Should you sell as a home, or a venue?

Many wedding venues have gradually grown from hosting a wedding at home for a family member or friend, to being a thriving business. When the time comes for you as an owner to move, it's hard to know whether the property's value is as a business, or as a family home, but that’s where Xenia Venues can help.

The Priory, Little Wymondley, Hertfordshire

To use a real example, let’s look at The Priory in Hertfordshire. The owner, Jay Hope, contacted Xenia Venues for advice after he and his family had made the decision to sell. He had spoken to a local estate agent for a property valuation, but in addition to being a family home, The Priory was a popular wedding venue and hosted between 40-100 weddings most years.  

Although they’d stopped marketing as a wedding venue, there were a number of weddings booked for 2024 and Jay didn’t want to let anyone down by cancelling.  His parents had committed a lot of time in developing the wedding business there, they employed a lot of local people, so Jay was keen to keep the business going if at all possible.  Importantly, he didn’t want to worry the venue’s team or couples while making a decision, so complete discretion was paramount.

The Priory is an exceptional property with a beautiful Grade I house and a 16th Century Grade II barn in an attractive setting, in a highly desirable part of Hertfordshire so could command a high price as a residential property. It would need to host a lot of weddings for the business value to be higher than the property value, but with commercial kitchens, office space and a little chapel already in place, plus enough space in the main house for guest accommodation, it looked as though it could be possible. 

Individual wedding venues tend to be valued at approximately 7.5x their annual profit figure or “EBITDA”. As a wedding venue business relies entirely on the property and would not exist without it, you can’t add the business valuation to the property valuation. So, as an owner, it is sensible to work out whether the business value and the property value are similar. If they are, there are many benefits in selling as a business.

Venue consultant, Alison Hargreaves, assists Xenia Venues in identifying potential acquistions. She was already familiar with The Priory and was able to assess the venue’s future potential and popularity, as well as its current figures, first online and then during a phone call with Jay. She arranged to meet Jay at the venue for a more detailed assessment, and to see whether The Priory might be suitable for Xenia Venues to acquire, or would be better suited as a residential home with a lifestyle business for an owner-operator.

One of Xenia Venues’ aims is to preserve the heritage of historic venues like The Priory for future couples to enjoy, however in The Priory’s case it was its special historic interest that prevented Xenia Venues from being able to make an offer to purchase. The Grade I house would have been too complex to convert into luxury ensuite accommodation for the couples’ family and friends to enjoy. Without the option of onsite guest accommodation we felt the appeal and therefore the value of the venue would be limited, and a beautiful house attracts minimal value if it is right next to a busy wedding venue..

Alison advised Jay accordingly, and shared the data and calculations she had used in assessing value so that he had all the information he might need to decide the best way to proceed.  She comments “We would have loved the opportunity to host weddings in such a gorgeous barn, but felt that the property’s overall value was higher as a residential property. A future owner would have the option to host weddings to fit around their lifestyle, or to use the barn for one of many other uses, without needing it to be a commercially viable business.”

Jay advised Alison of his decision to sell, which was kept under wraps until couples and staff had been contacted and plans put in place. A few months later, at the end of December 2023, The Priory was launched on the market with Fine & Country at £4.5 million, and Jay’s gave Xenia Venues permission to share his positive experience of the process with other wedding venue owners.

This is what Jay said about working with Xenia Venues:

"I first contacted Xenia in Summer 2023 after making the decision to sell our much loved family venue. They responded straightaway. I had a conversation with Alison over the phone and then a face to face meeting to view our venue and wedding business.

From a venue owner's perspective it is a complex sale. Not only the emotion of having built the business, which in our case is decades old but also with bookings stretching a few years into the future. It needs to be handled discreetly and empathetically and from my experience, Xenia excels at this.

Although through the process, we both agreed that our venue didn't quite match their commercial needs, those that do would benefit greatly from working with Xenia Venues.

If you are thinking of selling, I would have no hesitation in contacting Alison to discuss your plans."

Jay Hope, owner of The Priory, Hertfordshire

So, if you are considering selling a property, and feel it could be worth more as a wedding venue than as a residential property, please reach out. Alison is always happy to have an initial conversation by email or phone, and will arrange a visit if you’d like to take the next step.

Everything is done with absolute discretion, under the added protection of a non-disclosure agreement if you prefer and there is no cost to you at all.

If the property is suitable for Xenia Venues we will make a cash offer for you to consider. If it’s not suitable, Alison will be happy to introduce you to estate agents and valuers who specialise in prime properties and wedding venues.

Alison can be contacted on 07841 650225.