Castle and Fort Projects | PSC
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Castle heritage specialist
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Castle and fort projects

Steeped in history, the excitement and romanticism of castles and forts attract a wide variety of different visitor segments, from families and school groups through to heritage enthusiasts and international tourists.  However, in this competitive climate, it is essential that these historic sites are utilising their resources effectively to maximise their potential.  There is a careful balance to be achieved between introducing commercial activities and ensuring the qualities that make heritage properties special places to visit are maintained.   We often work with conservation architects and other heritage specialists.

What we do

Planning Solutions Consulting has worked on a range of castle, fort and heritage attraction consultancy projects, from preparing heritage visitor attraction business plans to support National Lottery Heritage Fund and other grant funding applications, through to carrying out castle feasibility studies for new visitor facilities and interpretation. We undertake audits to assess the current castle visitor experience, research to understand the behaviour and aspirations of current and prospective users, and produce operational strategies and income generation plans to help sites increase visitor numbers, dwell-time and secondary spend.  We also work with conservation architects to help design and cost transformational projects, from new entrance and welcome facilities through to café, retail and events infrastructure. Our services include:

  • Business plan to support funding applications
  • Feasibility studies
  • Visitor experience audits to assess the current visitor experience
  • Research to understand the behaviour and aspirations of current users
  • Development of income generation plans
  • Heritage-led masterplans
  • Design and costing of transformational projects (with a conservation architect)
  • Visitor management planning

Clients we’ve worked with

Wales

Scotland

England

Republic of Ireland

Find out about the castle and fort projects we have worked on.

What our clients say

“Pembrokeshire County Council, in conjunction with a partnership of public, private and third sector organisations, procured PSC to develop a robust feasibility study assessing the potential of Haverfordwest Castle to become a flagship heritage attraction. This was a complex study with a range of professionals involved and PSC managed all the various different subcontractors very effectively throughout the process.

The study itself includes some of the most defendable revenue business planning assumptions that I have seen in studies of this nature. Oftentimes, consultants can be somewhat overoptimistic in their financial assumptions in order to give clients what they want. Such assumptions can then come back to haunt the organisations that went on to deliver projects which ultimately were not financially viable. In this case, I am confident that the figures provided are realistic and achievable. PSC were always professional, quick to respond and willing to make changes to drafts, some of which were quite significant.” Mike Cavanagh, Head of Cultural, Leisure, Tourism and Registration Services, Pembrokeshire County Council

Talk to us about your project

If you’re considering a new visitor facility, restoration project, or funding application for a castle or fort, and you require a feasibility study or business plan, please call Richard Linington on 07866 742628. Email: richard@pslplan.co.uk for an informal discussion.