Escape to the Chateau

D&A can still be the planners and the celebrant/host to pre booked weddings even if they sell.

People can stay on as managers for a time after a business sale

I think you are missing the point, notanan. There are plenty of chateau wedding venues in France to choose from so I think if I'd booked D&A's place a year or two in advance, no doubt paying a huge deposit, I'd be miffed to find out they're not going to be there because they'd sold it.

Why on earth would they want to stay on if they didn't own it?

Steph and Dom Parker were able to promote The Salutation thanks to Gogglebox then sold it. Larger than Life personalities attract customers and people are often disappointed having to settle for what they feel is second best.

Of course it may be fake news.

You made me laugh Sir Chenjin, that just proves what a show people want to make of their weddings these days! They want the celebrities to attend, although I too think without D & A there the wedding would lack a certain je ne sais quoi.

X post merlotgran.

Exactly - you’re buying a spot in the D&A show and if I had a spare £38k I probably would too! <shallow>

Why on earth would they want to stay on if they didn't own it?

It can be part of the deal. They honour the bookings in so far as being the planners/hosts/celibrants, for a fee

And the buyers get a property with bookings in place.

These kinds of deals happen. I know someone who sold his restraunt but stayed on as head chef.

I doubt a deal like that would appeal to millionaire celebrities, notanan.

We sold a pub/restaurant and separate catering business back in the nineties so I do know how these things work. Anyone staying on usually does it because they need the job because it's their career. It happens quite a lot with chefs because they are then free to move on should they choose - and they often do.

When we sold our French chateau with a business attached, part of the selling price included the "goodwill" which was made up of next year's bookings. After all, we had already spent money on advertising and collecting deposits etc. There was no suggestion we should stay on because the new people wanted to enjoy the profits for themselves. Once you've been so involved in a venture I think D & A would find it very hard to effectively work for someone else.

I doubt a deal like that would appeal to millionaire celebrities, notanan

Why not? I can see it appealing to a "character" like Dick to swan back to be the celebrant in exchange for a nice fee for his next project!

Its all hypothetical anyway, but the chateau can be sold with bookings in place even if the bookings are conditional on Dick and Angel

If the bookings are conditional on Dick and Angel being there, it's likely people will want their deposits back if they're not.

D&A would be breaking their part of the contract.

If the contract doesn’t specify that D&A will be there will that constitute breach of contract?

No but notanan suggested the bookings could be conditional.

I wouldn't risk buying it on those terms even if I had a spare £2 million in the bank.

IF the contracts include Dick being celebrant etc, it can be worked around.

Its not an uncommon thing. Many businesses build their reputations on the personalities of their owners AND are still sold with a client or booking list. Its not prohibitive

We have a business. Being a small business its very much based on people knowing and liking us. We can still sell it with our client list. Many clients wouldnt want to work with a new owner but that doesnt matter. The client list still has value because it is evidence that the business is viable which helps new owners secure finance etc

Hmm...I still wouldn’t be happy if I’d booked a wedding at the D&A Chateau and found they’d sold the business and weren’t going to be there. You’re buying the whole package for something like a wedding and that includes them.

So, say 2 years down the line when D &A no longer own the chateau and are no longer on the TV a would you:
a) still book the chateau knowing this
b) expect to book the venue at a much reduced rate
c) look at other French chateaux venues
???

Wether Dick and Angel are thinking of selling on as a going concern I have no idea, I’m sure there will be a sucker with money burning a hole in their pocket who think they will be able to carry on - they will fall flat on their face!.

We have a very clever lady working in this area, buys a run down pub, hypes it up with imaginative accounts then sells it on as a going concern after 3 yrs. The downside is that another venue is opened a few miles away and all her staff and regulars migrate to that, very astute, so far it has happened 6 times.

Well Davidhs the new owners are stupid not to have a clause written into the contract that she mustn't open another pub within a 15 mile radius.

It will be difficult to have a clause like that written in, Ellianne because if she's that successful the breweries will be falling over themselves to offer her the best deals available and if she buys the freeholds, she'll be able to pick and choose.

With pubs struggling to survive she must be very good indeed if they are all successful.

I think it was 10 miles, buyers new to the trade, but it wouldn’t
matter how far, her formula would work anywhere.

Very good indeed, buys a free house, works hard, manages it personally, is generous to customers lots of freebies. The accounts looked good but her management time was not included and other expenses did not appear, all perfectly above board of course. The aim is not to make money out of trading, just the going concern value.

That kind of thing went on around here during the eighties. It all came a cropper during the nineties recession.

We bought the lease on ours at rock bottom price, we were tied to a brewery but they were confident we'd make a go of it so it was a good trading relationship. We had a backer that wanted to come in with us to buy the freehold but there was land at the back that had an option for building development so the brewery wouldn't sell it to us. We still did OK though and sold the lease and goodwill in 1998.

Well Davidhs the new owners are stupid not to have a clause written into the contract that she mustn't open another pub within a 15 mile radius.

Those clauses ARE common, though not legally binding.

However breaking them gives you a bad name in your field so most people do honour them. There is usually a time limit on them: 2-5 years

I was giving the chateau some thought and decided D & A will probably want to be ahead of the game in any new venture they undertake. They've done the restoration bit, the designer bit, the foodie bit, the wedding venue etc. Being such an energetic, talented couple there must be the next big thing waiting to happen for them somewhere. The trick in business is to move on before the chateau becomes uninteresting or a victim of its own success. On the other hand I could quite happily remain there and carry on running it for a lifetime.