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THE MEWS: JUNE 2024

Greetings to our fabulous feline-loving team,

Here’s to enjoying the longer days, warmer temperatures and some sporadic sunshine as we head into the summer months …

We hope the new All Inclusive hotel pages and online veterinary treatment form, have been making things a little easier as we move into the busy holiday season. Please let us know if you would like any help with your hotel admin, if you plan to take a break yourself. Feel free to transfer your phones to our global line and we can then email or Whatsapp message you with any nice bookings to consider while you are away.

We look forward to seeing many of you on our next Longcroft Live teams call, when Charlie The Vet will be discussing all things Feline First Aid. We want these calls to be as additive as possible to the daily running of your business, so do let us know if there are any issues you would like us to cover.

Thank you so much for all you are doing! We continue to receive fabulous feedback, in person and via online reviews, about the amazing customer service and kitty care you are providing for your customers. A special mention to April of Longcroft Four Marks who smashed the 100 review mark last month. You are all keeping our customers purring!

Please get in touch with us at Longcroft HQ if there is anything on your mind and please keep sharing your gorgeous kitty stories with us!

Huge thanks and sunny purrs, Abi xx

Fancy a get-together?

Ann at Longcroft Cuffley has been in touch to suggest a team meet up and possibly a meal in London and we agreed that this would be a fantastic idea!

We appreciate it’s quite a long way for many of you, but we would love to see you all again in person. Kings Cross would be a good location as it’s fairly straightforward to get to. We would like to propose the following dates and will schedule a poll on Love Longcroft. Feel free to respond to the poll or perhaps email us directly.

– Sunday 15th September 2024 – between 12 and 3pm

– Sunday 29th September 2024 – between 12 and 3pm

– Sunday 6th October 2024 – between 12 and 3pm

LONGCROFT LIVE

Date: Tuesday June 11th at 11am

Topic: Feline First Aid with Charlie The Vet

Optional: We will record the session if you can’t make it.

VACCINATIONS ADVICE

Below is a useful blog post on vaccinations to share with your customers, particularly if they are uncertain on the requirements. You may wish to set this up as a canned email response with the following wording:

“Thank you for getting in touch about the vaccination requirements for cats staying at Longcroft Luxury Cat Hotel. Below is our handy guide to vaccinations, flea and worm treatments. If you need any other advice, please do get in touch.”

If you would like us to go into your emails and set this up as a canned response, please do let us know.

Longcroft’s guide to feline vaccinations

NEWS FROM OUR HOTELS

Congratulations to Georgie at Longcroft Romsey on achieving another 5-star licensing rating.

Congratulations to April at Longcroft Four Marks on joining the 100 club – she celebrates getting to the 100 review mark!

April at Longcroft Four Marks donates to Cats Protection

Naturally April is a huge cat lover, and after meeting Phil and Julia from her local Cats Protection branch, she was moved by the enormity of the work they do to care for and rehome so many deserving pussycats: “The work Cats Protection do for the love of cats really is unbelievable.”

April saw how badly the charity is in need of donations and the support of foster carers, and wanted to do what she could to help .She donated seven large cat scratch posts, bedding and cat food to help support felines in need. Cats Protection is the UK’s leading cat charity and supports 157,000 cats and kittens each year through its national network.

OPENING SOON: Longcroft Bursledon, Hampshire

Sheryl and Matthew will be opening Longcroft Bursledon this July in their lovely home, in a pretty conservation area. Bursledon is a village located on the River Hamble in Hampshire within the borough of Eastleigh, close to the city of Southampton. They have two gorgeous Persians George and Mickey who stayed with Georgie at Longcroft Romsey and this is what inspired them to open their own Longcroft Hotel!

You can read about them here: https://www.longcroftcathotel.co.uk/welcome-to-new-longcroft-bursledon-hampshire/

OPTIONAL HOTEL UPGRADE – Front Corridor Shutters

A full front corridor storm shutter system is now available to add to your hotel. The shutters are manufactured using solid glass for the bottom section, plus a window that pivots from open to closed in front of the mesh section at the front. This means if it’s pouring with rain, you can close the shutters to keep kitties warm and dry.

The cost to upgrade will be an estimated £6k – £9k plus VAT, depending on the number of suites. Please let us know if you would like further information on this potential upgrade.

Website and online marketing

Check out our Tik Tok channel for cute kitty videos!

https://www.tiktok.com/@longcroftcathotel

There are always lots of fabulous feline photos being added to our Facebook page. Don’t forget to like them and send over your fav kitty pics on a Friday to lucy@longcroftcathotel.co.uk

Enquiries coming from our online marketing and website are going strong. We received more than 17,000 views on the Longcroft website over the past 28 days alone.

CAT STATS!

We thought we’d share some interesting facts about cat ownership in the UK …

Cat population and ownership

There are around 11 – 12 million owned cats in the UK, the same number as in 2022.

Just over one in four households (26%) own a cat

The percentage of pedigree cats obtained has increased over time: 42% of cats obtained in the last 12 months were pedigree or purebred compared with 17% more than five years ago

The average number of cats per household is 1.5 cats

A higher proportion of 25 to 34-year-olds own a cat (34%). Compared to this, only 11% of people over the age of 65 are likely to own a cat

14% of cat owners are first timers, with a higher proportion living in central urban areas (18%)

43% of cat owners are male and 57% of cat owners are female

As our homes get smaller and our lives become busier, cats for some are becoming the pet of choice as they are more independent and don’t need walking!

The Cat Fanciers’ Association, the biggest cat registry in the world, recognizes 44 cat breeds. But, the International Cat Association—recognizes 71 different breeds.

How has the cat boarding industry changed over the last few years?

Tighter licensing guidelines have seen some of the more traditional mass model catteries close or retrospectively invest in their business to improve their accommodation.

Customers demand a higher level of service. Longcroft has led the way in orchestrating this change and offering customers a better experience.

Technology has played a part in development as customers invest in more cat tech in their environment and want better and ore regular communication.

Science – cats are living longer. More health conditions are being treated and managed, rather than putting kitties with medical conditions to sleep.

Where are owners getting their cats from?

Cats tend to be bought (32%), adopted from a UK rehoming charity (24%) or have been taken on from a neighbour, family member or friend (17%)

Overall, 63% of cats purchased were found online, up from 61% in 2022. However, those buying from Facebook has decreased to 19% (down from 24% in 2022)

Cat health

32% of owners identify their cat as overweight, while 27% think their cat is an ideal weight and 37% worry that their cat is underweight

More people are turning to the internet for advice about their cat, with 52% using a search engine (up from 49% in 2022) and 19% searching social media (up from 16% in 2022).

The role that cats play in our lives

Companionship, reducing loneliness and reducing stress were collectively the top reasons for owning a cat (55%) for the fourth consecutive year (up from 51% in 2022).

21% of owners said the main reason for having a cat in their life is to help them feel less stressed.

73% of owners say having a cat brings them joy.

92% of owners consider their cat part of the family.

90% of owners spend time stroking their cat or sitting together every day, with 72% regularly talking to their cat.

45% of cat owners say their cat gives them something to get up for in the morning, with this statistic being higher for 18 to 34-year-old and female owners, both at 50%.

Almost a quarter (23%) of those who don’t own a cat say it’s because they couldn’t go through the pain of loss again.