4.8 out of 5 based on 183 reviews
A simple plan to increase profit
WOW!! after this almost audit on my business, they found so many little things which didn’t sound a lot alone. Add them all up, we are now saving ££££ making us more bottom line profit.
Being able to pay myself a wage has been amazing, I know it sounds simple, but we need the help.
You’re working hard, the calendar is full… but the numbers don’t feel right.
It usually looks like this:
You’re not failing. You’re running a holiday let without a clear profit system.
Working towards the end goal, higher profits.
By the end of the 30 days, you’ll have:
This isn’t a course. It’s a proven system, implemented with you and built around your business numbers.
We only take on 10 clients per month to ensure hands-on implementation, not just advice.
Sound like you? Let’s get you Profit Clarity in the next 30 days.
This is a 30-day implementation plan designed to increase profit fast and build control in the business. You’re not paying for BS advice and gurus. You’re paying for profit clarity + implementation + a plan that’s proven.
Our proven Profit Clarity Framework to increase profit works in 3 simple steps. Diagnose > Fix > Grow
See increased profits in just 90 days
“From the first call, Steve at Carlton Scott understood our goals and delivered clear, practical support that made a real difference to our business."
From stuck to profitability. In 30 days
Most small business owners aren't failing, they're stuck. Stuck in the day-to-day, stuck in the same margins, stuck wondering why a busy business isn't paying them what it should.
Yes. Transport Scotland's first-year evaluation found 39% of Borders Railway users travelling for a tourist day trip or an overnight stay, with Edinburgh to Tweedbank in under an hour, and passenger numbers ran well above forecast into the line's tenth year in 2025. For a Galashiels holiday let that is a guest who arrives without a car, so say so in the listing: distance to the station, a taxi number, and the Great Tapestry and the town on foot.
Around 41%: Savills' May 2026 research puts average self-catering occupancy in Scotland at 41% for 2025, down slightly from 41.6% in 2024. That is the average, so a property at 41% is doing nothing special, and one at 60% with a low nightly rate can earn less than one at 45% priced properly. Track occupancy and average nightly rate together, month by month, because the pair decides the year and either one alone misleads.
Neither is better; they bring different guests, and both cost you around a sixth of every booking. Airbnb takes a flat 15.5% from UK hosts and Booking.com around 15%, on Travelnest's April 2026 comparison. Run both for a year, record what each booking earned after fees and cancellations, then keep the one that pays and push every guest towards booking direct the second time. The platform that found the guest has done its job by then.
Less than the gross suggests. Sykes Holiday Cottages' 2026 Holiday Letting Outlook puts the average owner's gross income at £25,600 for 2025, and its own cost lines (bills £2,140, changeovers £1,190, maintenance £1,580, tax and licensing £1,450, marketing £1,000) take around £7,400 before any mortgage. What's left is decided by nightly rate, shoulder-month occupancy and what the platforms keep. Know all three for your own property before believing any average.
Whatever a five-star clean costs, then build it into the rate. Sykes' 2026 Holiday Letting Outlook puts the average owner's changeover bill at £1,190 a year; over 35 changes that is around £34 each. Owners on the forums ask whether £170 for a four-bed in Scotland is standard, and with linen and a hot tub it can be. Price the changeover as a line on every booking, and a two-night stay stops subsidising the cleaner.
A flat 15.5% of every booking for UK hosts, on Travelnest's April 2026 guide, which also puts Booking.com at 10% to 25% with around 15% typical. On a £600 week that is £93 to Airbnb before cleaning, so the platform is a marketing cost and should be judged as one. Use it to find guests, then make the second stay direct: your own booking page, a discount for repeat guests and a card at the property.
Start from what a night has to earn. Add the year's fixed costs, the mortgage and the changeover cost per stay, divide by the nights you can realistically sell (41% occupancy is the Scottish average, on Savills' 2026 research) and that is your floor. Dynamic pricing tools lift the rate for a rugby weekend or a bank holiday and trim it for a wet Tuesday in March; used blindly they undercut your own floor.
Between £500 and £3,500 a month plus VAT for one-to-one coaching, depending on the coach's experience, according to Alan Wick's May 2026 guide to UK coaching fees, and the bill runs for as long as the coaching does. The Profit Clarity Framework doesn't work that way: a fixed £1,495 + VAT for 30 days of work on your Galashiels holiday let's real numbers, and nothing after that.
£1,495 + VAT, fixed, whatever the size of the property. That covers the full 30-day diagnose-and-fix process on your Galashiels holiday let: nightly pricing by season, platform costs against direct bookings, changeover costs, rates and cash flow, with the changes implemented rather than left in a report, and leaves you with a more profitable business. Most clients who commit to the framework and follow our recommendations see a full return on the fee within 90 days.
A few hours a week, mostly at the start. You keep the changeovers and the guests; we work around the calendar. The onboarding call takes about an hour, gathering your paperwork takes another, and after that most of the effort is ours. With a Galashiels let we look hard at what each booking earned after platform fees, because the platform mix usually tells most of the story.
Turned a busy business into a profitable one. Should have done this years ago.
Steve at Carlton Scott doesn't tell you what you want to hear. He tells you what you need to hear.