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With pylon-gate risking a distraction from the wider plans for La Grande Mare, we spoke to the man at the very heart of the project to find out what is planned, when the new resort will be open and will it just be for golfers?
Stephen Lansdown CBE is co-founder and former chairman of Hargreaves Lansdown plc.
A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, he was awarded a CBE in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours for his services to business and the community in Bristol.
He relocated permanently to Guernsey in 2010 and shortly afterwards established his family office, Pula, which has many business interests including sport, aviation, sustainability-focused investments, and lodges in Southern Africa.
Where did the idea for a golf club 'resort' come from?
It wasn’t really an idea that came from somewhere specific, and it certainly wasn’t part of the plan when Maggie and I moved to Guernsey! We had lived in Bristol all of our married life but decided the time was right to step back from our business interests and do other things. Moving to live somewhere else was part of that decision and we had always loved coming to Guernsey on holiday with our children so we came over to look at some properties in 2008 and decided it was the place for us.
I joined La Grande Mare as I love playing golf and quickly appreciated how special it is. When the Vermeulen family, who had owned it for more than 40 years, decided to sell, I knew there was a real opportunity to do something. What you have at La Grande Mare is location, location, location. 100 acres of beautiful countryside and wildlife, and Vazon beach on its doorstep.
Pictured: Mr Lansdown has been a member of La Grande Mare Golf Club himself since he moved to the island.
I’d already invested in the island in different ways as Maggie and I have always been passionate about supporting the communities around us, and Guernsey is no different. But for me La Grande Mare was a significant investment through which I can put something back for the local community to enjoy. It is a vote of confidence in the island, my belief in the island.
Why golf? Has it always been a passion of yours?
Sport in general is a huge passion for me. I’ve been involved in Bristol City since 1996 and was chairman from 2002 until 2011. I bought Bristol Bears in 2008 to save it from liquidation and the Bristol Sport franchise now also owns Bristol City women’s team, Bristol Bears women’s team and the Bristol Flyers basketball squads.
In 2014, Bristol Sport oversaw a £45m. redevelopment of Ashton Gate into a 27,000 seater stadium and both Bears and City have high performance centres. Sport brings people together, it provides the community with so many benefits – something to aim for, something to be proud of, a place to work at or just visit. Sport connects people and the benefits are endless.
I’ve supported the Guernsey Sports Commission since I moved here as that is a brilliant initiative which I think should be the blueprint for sport in the community in more places. We’ve also put in place a pathway between Guernsey and Bristol City and that’s been a huge success and of course we’ve recently supported the Island Games which was just an inspirational week of sport.
As for golf, it’s a sport for everyone. Youngsters can play it for fun or as their main sport, as demonstrated by the teams who represented Guernsey at the Island Games and older players can either do it socially or competitively. From four to 94, golf is an option.
Was it always the intention to develop a 'luxury golf resort and spa' or did it come from an opportune moment?
It was always the intention to make a significant investment in La Grande Mare but Covid changed the timeline. It was the catalyst. We had no idea how long the pandemic would last or when things would return to normality so we took the decision to close the hotel and focus on the development. Closing meant we didn’t need to factor in the needs of guests and could focus on the La Grande Mare of the future.
The new La Grande Mare will have a world-class golf course that will be open to locals but will also encourage people to come to Guernsey to play. It has a more interesting and demanding layout which integrates new ponds with existing ponds and waterways. Work is due to start shortly on a new driving range and golf academy building, with associated storage sheds and parking. A country club-style building containing a golf club, health and fitness club, restaurant with terrace overlooking Vazon Bay, and versatile event space, will be built on the site of the old hotel. New accommodation will also be located close by.
Pictured: One of the architect's impressions of the new look La Grande Mare resort.
Prior to the pandemic, golf tourism was a growing market; other locations that have embraced it have seen lucrative returns. In Scotland, for example, golf tourism was worth almost £300million a year, pre-Covid.
We want people to come to Guernsey on a golf holiday, we want them to play golf – and not just at La Grande Mare, but at L’Ancresse and St Pierre Park, too – and spend money in restaurants, bars, shops and tourism businesses.
We want La Grande Mare to be somewhere that Guernsey can be proud of.
What response have you had from the golf club at LGM and its members?
There has been a really positive response as I think they all recognised that the course needed improvements. It needed to be a more demanding course for people to enjoy. The members have been incredibly patient, and we are grateful to them for their support during all of the works. Unfortunately, we will have to shut the whole course next year to allow the course to complete all of the remodelling and ensure that it becomes established. It’s inevitable that some members will join other clubs and be happy there, which of course is great news for those clubs, but La Grande Mare will be very special so I am sure we will not be short of members either.
The West Coast and its beaches are valuable assets to the community, in terms of aesthetics, tourism and heritage; how has the resort been designed with this in mind?
The main building is no higher than the hotel was but it has been designed to make the most of the views over the West Coast. It’s a beautiful scheme that is going to be sympathetically impressive when it is finished. The planning permission included a very thorough Environmental Impact Assessment, and we also employ an environmental and sustainability officer who spent the two years before work started surveying the flora and fauna. She also carries out weekly and monthly surveys on birds, invertebrates, bats and the orchids. We want to enhance and protect the incredible location we have.
We are also committed to recycling and reusing as much as we possibly can. The contents of the hotel were sold to islanders or donated to good causes, such as the Lihou Charitable Trust and Grow, and the surface of the tennis court was taken by a local farmer to line farm tracks. Electrics, plastic piping and steel was removed from the hotel building during demolition and recycled and material from the building was crushed to create hard standing.
Has the resort been developed with a certain clientele in mind? High end, middle earners, accessible to all... etc.
This is a major investment and I have never hidden from the fact that it has to be a commercial success and has been developed with this in mind.
Has the development gone smoothly and when do you expect it to be completed?
It’s a massive project and won’t be without its issues I’m sure but I’m pleased with the progress so far. Phase 1 of the golf course is currently nearing completion with holes being extended, remodelled and re-landscaped and I can already see that it is going to be a huge improvement.
Pictured: The pylons are an integral part of the planning for the golf driving range and were met with some complaints when they went up earlier this year.
Before the end of the year, we will start Phase 1 of the buildings which is the new academy building. Phase 2 of the golf course and the main building and accommodation is scheduled to start in Q1 next year and we plan to open in autumn 2025. We are using local contractors, wherever possible, and although some specialists have been required, they have in turn used local sub-contractors.
A project of this size has considerable benefits for the local economy, whether that’s through the supply of materials and equipment, travel and transport of machinery and personnel or the off-island contractors living and enjoying island life.
A lot has been made of the planting scheme for the development. Keeping in mind that many of the trees will take a good few years to mature, when do you expect the resort will be fully aesthetically realised?
La Grande Mare is 110 acres in total so I don’t know if there will ever be a time! It will change each season and each year as habitats grow and mature. The landscaping scheme, which has been designed by a Guernsey landscape specialist to ensure it is right for the island and the location, will see 10,000 shrubs and trees planted. We have nine different habitats at La Grande Mare including semi-natural broadleaved woodland, planted broadleaved woodland, coastal grasslands and wet meadows.
What are your hopes for the future of La Grande Mare?
A part of the island which we will all be proud of and want to be part of, and that it will stand out on the world stage as a place to visit and enjoy playing golf.
Unplugged is a regular feature in CONNECT, Express's sister magazine.
In each edition of CONNECT we enable someone in the news to speak directly to you, in their own words, unplugged.
What you have read is a transcript, beyond minor changes in punctuation and syntax to add clarity.
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