Landmark’s flexible KEYPrime Accounts and KEYPrime Property management systems accommodate a hotel business, a property company and more unusually a Community Interest Company in the thriving market town of Malton, which has been christened Yorkshire’s Food Capital by Antonio Carluccio.
Bustling Malton itself and the food brand ‘Made In Malton’ are magnets for producers and ‘foodies’ alike thanks to the enthusiasm, leadership and expertise of 33 year old Tom Naylor-Leyland a descendant of the last Earl Fitzwilliam and heir to Sir Philip Naylor-Leyland. The Malton website is fun and informative and reflects Tom’s passion and vision for Malton, he knows about customer service and has worked at the sharp end of hospitality in London including a stint as a butler and in the “impressive yet terrifying” kitchens of chef Sally Clarke.
Tom has attracted further management expertise to run the food related enterprises namely the Talbot, a listed Grade II* 26 bedroom hotel refurbished in 2012, the expanding Food Festivals in May and September, monthly Food Markets and a thriving cookery school, promoting Yorkshire’s finest food in a relaxed atmosphere in Yorkshire’s Food Capital. These activities are central to attracting new food businesses to rent properties, owned by the estate, in and around the town.
There is a highly professional property management team, based in the town, led by Roddy Bushell, BSc MRICS, Estate Manager. The Fitzwilliam family have been investing in Malton for over 300 years and are more involved now than ever before with Sir Philip and Tom Naylor-Leyland contributing much to the rejuvenation of the town with flair, attention to detail and creativity underpinned by strong financial control with each project fully budgeted and carefully monitored on the KEYPrime software.
One example of thinking differently about the town is the creation of a non-profit making Community Interest Company (CIC) expressly set up to support the Estate’s objective of making Malton work for the local community all year and not just when the town is host to the plethora of high profile chefs, foodies, tourists and media. “The CIC has its own set of books of KEYPrime Accounts” explains Robert Dalgliesh. “First and foremost, Malton is a working market town and to encourage year round local trade the CIC provides limited free waiting parking and bears the related costs; and secondly it strives to improve the appeal of the town centre, for example, with hanging baskets and regular events including monthly indoor food markets and a smaller weekly outdoor stall market.
Standardising the accounting and property management systems for the Fitzwilliam Estates was a high priority for Sir Philip and Robert recalls:
“There were a variety of different recording systems, including paper and pencil, at the four Fitzwilliam estates namely Milton (Peterborough), Wentworth (South Yorkshire), Malton and Nantclwyd in Denbighshire. Overall there are 25 sets of books and 4 rent databases – they are now all operating on KEYPrime. Crucially, we have at last been able to improve our internet speed to 500 mbps at Milton so that Nicki Flatters (ACCA) our Group Accountant has the ability to open the networked accounts across the estates and can see and use live data remotely. That makes a difference!”
Malton is operating the Advanced version of accounts, designed for clients running a large, complex business, with features such as combined enterprise reporting, custom management reports (much used by the Fitzwilliam Estates for specific layout preferences), electronic banking and Excel data import.
Robert comments of the use of KEYPrime:
“The commercial, retail and residential properties at Malton generate 551 tenancies on a single rent database. Timely rent collection, budgeting and cash flow monitoring are deeply ingrained in our overall management and form the cornerstones of the estate’s management approach. The pressure to keep up with the annual cycle of budgets, management reports and financial statements is intense at times -we rely heavily on Landmark software to facilitate all aspects of the business and to meet our management, legal and fiscal deadlines.”
The future of Malton looks bright. Tom Naylor-Leyland is leading the way promoting food and the town, closely linking the brand with the local community and the estate. There are a plethora of ideas in the pipeline and he is looking to Europe for inspiration with thoughts of encouraging people to ‘slow down a little’ and enjoy the atmosphere of Malton in a piazza style area. There is little doubt that out of public view KEYPrime will be worked hard, crunching the figures, to encourage others to come to Malton to relax and enjoy!
