Beaulieu, ancestral home of the Montagu family since 1538, is situated in the former grounds of the Abbey on the banks of the Beaulieu River. Palace House is a fine example of a Victorian country house. Beaulieu also features beautiful gardens, the world-famous National Motor Museum, which contains a priceless collection of more than 250 historic vehicles, offers corporate entertaining and weddings, and runs numerous events including the world-renowned International Autojumble.
To keep it ticking over, Beaulieu Enterprises employs 70 salaried staff plus 100 weekly paid employees, a figure which rises to 170 in the busy summer months.
Beaulieu was opened as an attraction in 1952 by the current Lord Montagu; the estate came into his ownership when he reached 25 and he put five cars on display at Palace House as a tribute to his father, a motoring pioneer. On the first day of opening Lord Montagu said to his house guests: “If we get more than 100 people today, we will have Champagne at dinner“ – a bottle was popped at lunchtime. As his passion for cars grew, he established a separate trust for the motor vehicle collection in 1968 and opened the then new National Motor Museum building in 1972.
In five decades, business has fluctuated. At the start, there were fewer competing attractions, but the 1990s brought increased competition (such as aquariums and theme parks) combined with more relaxed Sunday trading legislation.
Customer expectations have altered vastly. Munn said: “Everything from customer care to catering has required investment; but there’s been a huge change in people’s attitudes and expectations over the years.“
So how do you keep attractions fresh in the digital age? Munn continued: “The National Motor Museum is undergoing a large multi-phased development, bringing in more dioramas and making the most of its extensive collections as well as the cars. This represents a constant evolution of motoring history. Think about a Mini. The brand values remain the same as they did 50 years ago, but it has undergone redesign and restyling – Beaulieu is the same.
“We use our historic records. Palace House can tap into authentic records of ’this day in 1889’ and bring history to life, season by season.“
It’s an excellent family day out, but other growth areas have been corporate functions, meetings and weddings. Beaulieu hosted 100 functions last year.