Client: Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust

We prepared the business plan to develop a visitor centre, the Attenborough Nature Centre, at a nature reserve in Nottingham for the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. The reserve has been developed on a former gravel extraction site.

To produce the business plan for the visitor centre our work included a programme of indepth consultation, carrying out a site review, an analysis of the demographic profile of key drivetime contours, an assessment of the tourism and visitor attraction sectors to identify the potential target markets and an assessment of the competitive landscape. Importantly because of its city location, we identified potential opportunities which were linked to the conference and meetings sectors.

In addition we bench-marked a number of similar visitor centres, developed a five-year trading profile for the centre and set out management options and wider operational considerations. The business plan prepared by our team supported a successful funding application. The Attenborough Nature Centre incorporates a range of uses including a popular cafe, retail, conference and education spaces.   The reserve is a popular destination for members of the local community. Photos kindly supplied by The Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.

How can we help?
If you have any questions about preparing a business plan for a nature reserve or visitor centre or would like to discuss our work please don’t hesitate to call Richard Linington on 07866 742628 or email richard@pslplan.co.uk