On his
royal throne

by MARIA BRADSHAW

WHEN BRITISH BILLIONAIRE John Morphet bought the exclusive Royal Westmoreland Resort five years ago for £60 million he had huge plans for it as well as for the island.

To date, by dint of hard work and determination, he has taken the resort from an occupancy level of 30 per cent for its rental villas to over 90 per cent.

It has also commanded a very high repeat customer rate with more than 50 per cent of clients also buying holiday homes there.

During an interview with the SUNDAY SUN last week at his home, also located at the exclusive St James resort, and overlooking his vast investment, it was clear why he had fallen in love with the island while on vacation - and hence the purchase of Royal Westmoreland.

Playground for rich

About two years ago Morphet also acquired the neighbouring Lancaster Sugar Plantation for US$25 million on which he plans to develop 250 properties, including a 100 room hotel and an 18-hole championship golf course.

The acquisition of this playground for the rich and famous is another feather in the cap of this 54-year-old entrepreneur who also owns two golf courses in Britain and is involved in a range of other businesses - not forgetting his life on the farm.

It may come as a surprise but this self-confessed workaholic ("I don't know how to take a vacation") admits to being chief cook and bottle washer for the estate.

"I love work. I am very hands-on and totally in control of all my businesses in the UK and Barbados. I have no shareholders and no board to go back to.

"It's a big job but I can go home on my farm and then put on a suit and go to meetings in the office - which I do all the time. My businesses in the UK are widespread, so I get around quite a lot."

And even though he believes that the "planning authority" here is dragging its feet on giving the go-ahead for the Lancaster project - he is still willing to wait, albeit a bit impatiently, for the green light.

"They are not as quick as they should be. We just got back one application which we submitted back in April 2006," he lamented.

Of course he is disappointed, but he has no intention of putting his investment anywhere else.

"At the end of day John Morphet does not take any money off the island. All the money is reinvested back in Barbados. Not a a penny is taken away."

And laughing heartily he declared: "And if the planners and Government don't help John Morphet to achieve his goals every penny will still be reinvested back into the island.

"I am not here for the short term. I am a one-man band who loves the island and who loves working here."

He spoke of his respect for the Government and people of Barbados and stated that everything he did with the new resort would be done in a "sympathetic way".

Local access

"We have a good relationship with the Government. Although this is a private golf course, there is access to local people. And all of the Barbadians who have applied have been granted membership. We do a lot of work with the Barbados Golf Association to which we donate $50 000 annually," he added.

But why another golf course - the planned one at Lancaster - on such a small island that already has seven?

"We generate our own players. We sell golfing holidays in both Barbados and the UK. We have 60 000 clients and as part of their membership they can play on either of the golf courses."

In addition, the villas at Royal Westmoreland are widely sought after by a number of sporting personalities including footballers, cricketers and golfers.

Morphet also praised his public relations and marketing team, admitting that much money was spent promoting Royal Westmoreland.

"About $750 000 is spent on public relations and the marketing of Royal Westmoreland throughout the world, to bring visitors to Barbados. We are very active in promoting the island." he explained.

"People who would normally go to Europe on a two-hour flight are happy now coming to Barbados on an eight-hour flight because it is perceived as good value for their money and high-quality holidays."

That is one of the reasons why Royal Westmoreland has managed to maintain high occupancy rates - even during these tough economic times.

"We have gone back to old-fashioned values of getting off our backside and getting out there and working and driving the business. You have to generate the business yourself and that is what I am doing," he said, while declaring that sales of resorts in Britain had picked up from one-a-week to ten-a-week.

He is now in the process of replicating the Royal Westmoreland model in Britain - that is, having a golf course surrounded by town houses.

Who knows? Perhaps this father of five who was named Britain's Entrepreneur Of The Year in 2006 could well be in the running here for being awarded a similar title.