17 April
2024
Safestay
plc
("Safestay", the "Company" or the "Group")
First Management Contract to
run Independent Hostel
Safestay (AIM: SSTY), the owner and
operator of an international brand of contemporary hostels,
announces that it has signed its first management contract to run
the resort-based 120 bed Calpe Seafront Hostel on Spain's Costa
Blanca on behalf of a property investment company.
The Calpe Seafront hostel is located
opposite Salt Lake, home to flocks of greater flamingos, five
minutes' walk from Arenal-Bol beach and a 45 minute drive from
Alicante airport. It was acquired after the hostel had been put
into administration during the pandemic, when trading was severely
curtailed. The hostel has been closed since. As an established
hostel operator in Spain, Safestay is well positioned to take over
the management under the Safestay brand and incorporate it into the
Group's booking system. The management contract is for an initial
20-year term and importantly should form the template for further
management outsourcing transactions.
Prior to the pandemic, the Calpe
Seafront was a successful hostel and the Group is confident of
being able to quickly re-establish trading and return it to being a
successful business. It is a two-storey building with a mix of
rooms with 4-6 beds in each and some private rooms. All have air
conditioning and there is an attractive outside terrace. Some
refurbishment work is required to prepare the building for
re-opening and this work, funded by the landlord, has commenced and
is scheduled to complete in June 2024. The Calpe Seafront Hostel
will adopt Safestay branding.
Calpe is known for outdoor sports and
activities including sailing, climbing, hiking and cycling. These
attractions bring a number of people to the area, from dedicated
sports enthusiasts to young explorers, to solo travellers and
families. A wide range of potential customers.
Under the management contract,
Safestay will receive a fixed management fee plus a percentage of
revenue and profits above certain levels. The Calpe Hostel will be
Safestay's fourth Spanish based hostel and eighteenth hostel
overall. It will benefit from Group economies of scale as well as
being part of the Group's booking system and overall
marketing programme which last year welcomed 848,633 guests across
the portfolio.
Larry Lipman, Chairman of Safestay, said,
"'We are excited about the
addition of the Safestay Calpe Seafront on the Costa Blanca in
Spain to our portfolio of upmarket hostels across Europe. This is
the first management contract signed by Safestay and we are already
discussing other similar opportunities with the aim of adding an
asset-light portfolio of hostels to sit alongside our expanding
freehold and leasehold portfolio. Safestay Calpe Seafront, while
different in being resort based, is a unique hostel which will fit
naturally into our network. I believe it will be a strong addition
alongside our new Edinburgh hostel, which is also opening in
June."
Enquiries:
Safestay
plc
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8815 1600
Larry Lipman
Liberum (Nomad
& Joint Broker)
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3100 2000
Andrew Godber / Edward Thomas / Josh
Borlant
Novella
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3151 7008
Tim Robertson / Safia Colebrook
For
more information visit our:
Website www.safestay.com
Vox Markets page https://www.voxmarkets.co.uk/company/SSTY/news/
Instagram page www.instagram.com/safestayhostels/