In south Wales, the Port of Milford Haven, which is the UK’s top energy port, has announced that it has completed the purchase of the St. Brides Spa Hotel in Saundersfoot, one of Pembrokeshire’s most prestige hotels.
The investment by the Port of Milford Haven includes a management agreement with The Celtic Collection to manage and operate the hotel on the Port’s behalf. Together with Ty Hotel Milford Waterfront, this adds another quality offering to the port’s hospitality and tourism portfolio and strengthens the range of profitable investments linked to its diversification strategy.
The energy port is also Wales’ busiest, handling around 20% of Britain’s seaborne trade in oil and gas. It is widely recognised in the industry as the energy capital of the UK.
For more than a decade, the Port has been actively pursuing a strategic objective to reduce its dependency on the oil and gas sector and seek out additional revenue streams that provide long term, stable, financial resilience for the business.
Tom Sawyer, Chief Executive at the Port of Milford Haven, said: “We are proud to, once again, be partnering with The Celtic Collection to deliver another high-quality hospitality and tourism offer in Pembrokeshire. This latest investment in St Brides Spa Hotel allows us, through our partnership, to promote the fantastic coastal community of Saundersfoot and support Visit Pembrokeshire's ambition for the county to become a top 5 UK destination choice.”
“Historically, we have been highly dependent on the oil and gas sector, a commodities market that is prone to fluctuation and outside of our control. But over the last decade, though a diversification strategy focused on developing and building our business based upon high levels of expertise and excellent facilities, we have successfully created new opportunities in port services, renewables and engineering at Pembroke Port, and hospitality and tourism at Milford Waterfront.
“The continuing success and growth of St Brides Spa Hotel brings economic, social and cultural benefits to the whole of Pembrokeshire whilst at the same time strengthening the Port’s financial resilience. This is exactly what our Trust Port status is about: investing profits for the benefit of future generations.
“This investment in no way undermines our ability to invest in our core purpose to operate the UK’s largest energy port safely, effectively and responsibly, which will always remain our primary focus.”
The transition to the new ownership and management will be seamless with no detrimental impact on guests and the jobs of all current St. Brides team members safeguarded.
