Case study: Shambellie House
Background
Until 2013, Shambellie House in Dumfries and Galloway was the home of the National Museum of Costume. Since the closure of the Museum, the Shambellie House Trust has been working to identify the potential of redeveloping the site for alternative uses. The Trust had developed proposals to use the house as a centre for people to come and participate in creative activity holidays (“leisure learning”) and identified a requirement to assess the market potential.
Purpose
Scotinform was asked to review the current market for day and residential leisure learning courses. Who goes on these types of holidays, and what do they look for in a provider? How much are they prepared to pay, and how well would this type of holiday fit with the Dumfries and Galloway tourism offer? The results were to be used to inform strategic and business planning by the Trust, as well as communications and applications to funding bodies.
Methodology
Scotinform was able to combine extensive desk research with our own Mosaic profiling to determine the propensity for local residents and tourists to the area to attend leisure learning courses. This was supplemented by a comparator review, gathering information about the product, positioning and price points of other providers across the UK. We also examined other opportunities for generating income and consulted with regional stakeholders to determine the strategic “fit” for the project.
Impacts
The research identified a strong opportunity for the Trust and identified a range of possible operational models, including some that did not feature in the original brief. By discussing these models further, and integrating the Trust’s own dialogue with local artists and makers into the findings, Scotinform was able to present a strong evidence base for preferred option.
“Not only did Scotinform provide a fantastic, in-depth analysis of our potential market (at great value for money!), but they raised important issues which stimulated the Trust to re-think part of its approach. In that sense they worked with us more as partners than simply a commissioned agency.”
Piotr Bienkowski, Project Organiser
Why Scotinform?
We keep talking to you throughout the project, so that if you’ve moved beyond the original brief we can adapt the research accordingly.
Our experience goes beyond research into business planning and consultancy – so we can anticipate how you might use the research and work with you to discuss its implications.
As licence holders for Mosaic we are able to combine credible “big data” with bespoke research. You can have confidence in our findings.