A graduate business from NatWest’s Cardiff Entrepreneur Accelerator Programme, Bodacious Beds, has launched ambitious growth plans which will see it secure up to 15 new sites over the next five years.
The entrepreneurs behind the chain of affordable boutique style guest houses joined the programme formerly known as Entrepreneurial Spark in October this year. The husband and wife run business now has an annual turnover of £800,000 and employs 25 members of staff.
Founded in 2017, Bodacious Beds is the brainchild of Lloyd and Marta Smith who cut their teeth in the industry by investing and renovating residential properties to sell on or rent out. The couple started with the first guest house, The Whitehouse in Swansea, and then opened sister venue The Alexandra, also in Swansea, just a few months later.
A further two guest houses have since followed and Lloyd and Marta now hope to secure a refinancing package from NatWest to acquire further sites across South Wales, Bristol and Birmingham.
Bodacious Beds offers guests boutique style, short stay accommodation at affordable prices across all of its South Wales sites. The pet-friendly venues offer free wi-fi, discounted rates on food and drink at nearby restaurants and are in close proximity to some of the region’s top tourist locations.
Co-founder Lloyd said:
“Being around like-minded entrepreneurs and having access to support and advice from the programme’s mentors and finance experts has helped us focus growth plans. Feedback from our guests is consistently positive and we are currently operating at a 92% occupancy rate, our plan now is to build on this. Working with NatWest we are now looking at refinancing the business to support our acquisition strategy.”
Natasha Hopkins, Relationship Manager, NatWest, said: “Lloyd and Marta have used their experience working in the property industry to create a successful guest house business which has gone from strength to strength. Not only are they offering a unique experience for their guests but are contributing to the South Wales tourism economy and are creating new jobs.”
