Terry McCartney was “shocked” when he read in a newspaper that his father had put the Belmore Court Motel up for sale.


It was 1995 and the IT graduate was working in England for Powerscreen. During one of his regular trips home to Enniskillen he learned that his father Raymond McCartney was selling the Motel.


“I was shocked but I didn’t feel pressure - I wouldn’t want to say to my son: ‘I’m retiring, you’ve got to take over’. I was quite happy with the way it was done,” Terry told The Impartial Reporter. 


A father-and-son discussion was followed by a successful trip to the bank and Terry was able to buy his father out of the majority of the business. He returned home from England just when the Good Friday Agreement was leading to hopes that Northern Ireland could rebuild its tourism industry.


Terry’s father Raymond had an entrepreneurial streak which saw him diversify from driving a grocery van around the county in his youth to bringing American-style motel accommodation to County Fermanagh in 1991. In the sixties Raymond opened the Lough Erne Hotel in Kesh, later selling it in 1974. He bought the Killyhevlin Hotel in 1971 and sold it in 1976. He opened a number of pubs including The Fairview Bar and McCartney’s Bar and also bought Necarne. During a driving trip across the United States, Raymond was impressed by the Howard Johnson hotel chain and the motels dotted along the freeways. He liked the fact that they offered accommodation but without the running cost of a kitchen or a bar. In 1989, Raymond bought the terraces on Wickham Drive and built The Belmore Court Motel.


Living up to this legacy was daunting for Terry, who explained: “My father has always had an entrepreneurial ability to start things up and I felt a bit of pressure that I was taking the mantle on. Years later when I spoke to him about it, he said he had always been a good starter of things but finishing them wasn’t always for him. He could see the improvements I had made when I took over.”


Terry continued: “It’s nice to have been able to carry on the legacy. But it was important that dad totally stepped back from the business and let me do my own thing.”


Unfortunately, Raymond died before he saw the opening of the Belmore Court extension in 2009. Terry now provides 60 rooms; the 30 original motel rooms with kitchenette and the 30 modern, superior and executive rooms in the newer building. The four star modern hotel-style rooms each feature a stylish bathroom designed by E&R Bennett, Fivemiletown and the superior and executive rooms also include nespresso coffee machines, hair straighteners and iPod docks.
“I was conscious that I wanted to keep the value but I wanted to lift the market up a little bit,” commented Terry.


Customer feedback led Terry to include adjoining bedrooms, disabled access rooms, meeting rooms and a continental breakfast room. However, he refuses to become pet friendly because: “The vast majority of our customers do not want to stay somewhere a dog has stayed!”


Listening to his customers’ needs has clearly paid off because The Belmore Court has just been ranked 13 in TripAdvisors annual Traveller’s Choice Awards Top 25 Bargain Hotels in the UK. This is the third year Belmore Court has made the list and, once again, it is the only Northern Ireland property to be included.


Over the past seven years the facility has increased its staff from nine to 16 and has won a raft of awards for its green credentials, its housekeeping standards and its hospitality offering.


In order to “keep the service fresh” Terry travels around conferences in Northern Ireland and to New York, where the trend-setters create the hospitality agenda for the rest of the modern world. 


An advocate for the Northern Ireland tourism industry, Terry sits on the Board of Tourism NI. He admits that it is “challenging” to attract visitors from the Republic to Northern Ireland, particularly since the budgetary cuts have been implemented and the euro rate continues to fall.


Locally, he is conscious that “we have a young and vibrant tourism industry in Fermanagh”.  In his opinion, Fermanagh needs a facility along the lines of We Are Vertigo in Belfast; an indoor trampoline park, ski slope and rope climbing area. “That’s an amazing facility. It doesn’t have the same running costs as a water park would have and it would attract people to the county.”

 

He stated: “We need Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, who are currently putting together their Tourism Strategy, to take advantage of the fact that over the past few years, tourism in Fermanagh and Omagh brings £86 million into the local economy.
“We need shops to consider opening longer hours and not to close at lunch time or on Wednesdays or Sundays.
“It may not go down well but I have 150 guests checking out here on a Sunday morning – what do they do? That’s an opportunity to keep people here and get them spending more money. The coffee shops are starting the Sunday opening trend but others need to follow suit.”


A member of the Enniskillen Business Improvement District (BID) task team, Terry commented: “The Enniskillen BID is a great opportunity for Enniskillen. It’s an opportunity for all people to move forward on the issues that are of importance to them.”

 

Q&A
My first jobs was: paper boy at Veitch’s.

The business person who most influenced me was: my father Raymond McCartney.

The technology gadget I can’t live without is: my iPhone.

Changes I’ve noticed since I started are: customer knowledge and bookings through mobile phones are now up to 60 per cent.

The most promising business sectors currently are: tourism.

Operating my business from Fermanagh means: I’m able to lead a happy life and I have a great work-life balance.

My business mantra is: make decisions, and make people happy.

My one piece of business advice is: spend more time looking forwards than backwards.

I couldn’t start my day without: a swim. 
I like to relax by: spending time with my wife Mary, children Lewis (13) and Ellie (10).