Key Points
- The boutique hotel, bar and restaurant, Sandy Mount House in Rhosneigr, Anglesey, is now an employee-owned business.
- The founders Phil and Louise Goodwin passed on ownership of the firm to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) rather than sell the business to a bigger hospitality business.
- The owners purchased and renovated the premises in 2018 and have now decided to move out after eight years.
- The business has 50 staff members that include a Visit Wales five-star Gold rating hotel, bar and restaurant.
- Phil and Louise Goodwin will stay for a few months to ensure a smooth transition but will retain the ownership of the building.
- Louise Goodwin will serve on the EOT trustee board along with the independent trustee Mike Williams from Cwmpas and Sandy Mount House supervisor Helen Roberts.
- The board of directors will include Dan Pritchard as the manager, Gary Phillips as the maintenance manager and Iolo Jones as the finance manager.
- The process was helped by Cwmpas, a member of Social Business Wales and financed by the Welsh Government. The legal advice was provided by TLT LLP and Azets valued the property.
Wales (Wales Times) October 27, 2026 — Staff at Sandy Mount House have taken ownership of the Rhosneigr hotel and restaurant after its founders transferred the business to an Employee Ownership Trust.
As reported by North Wales Live, owners Phil and Louise Goodwin have handed the business to its employees through an EOT rather than sell it to a major hospitality company. The move means the hotel, bar and restaurant will continue to operate under staff ownership while the Goodwins step away from day-to-day control.
Sandy Mount House is a boutique hotel, bar and restaurant on Rhosneigr High Street. According to The Caterer, it employs 50 people and holds a Visit Wales five-star Gold rating, while its restaurant has received an AA Rosette.
Why did Phil and Louise Goodwin transfer the hotel?
Phil and Louise Goodwin founded the business in 2018 after acquiring the property and carrying out a refurbishment. With a senior management team already overseeing much of the operation, the couple decided the EOT was the appropriate way to secure the business’s future.
As reported by North Wales Live, Phil Goodwin said: “Dan Pritchard (the manager) and the team we now have at Sandy Mount House are excellent and are like family to us, so when it came to thinking what is next, the move to an EOT seemed the perfect solution.”
He also said the management team had increasingly taken responsibility for daily operations. As reported by Insider Media, Phil Goodwin said:
“The management team has been taking over more and more of the day-to-day running of the business, so an EOT seemed like the perfect way to keep the hotel embedded in the community and keep the jobs here for local people too.”
Louise Goodwin said the couple had considered selling during their eight years of ownership, but did not want the hotel and its workforce to be taken over by a larger company. As reported by Boutique Hotelier, she said:
“We have considered selling Sandy Mount House at times over the eight years we’ve owned it but felt that it would be all wrong to see our hard work, our beautiful hotel and our valued team being taken over by a big company with all the resultant job losses that that would likely bring.”
Who will run Sandy Mount House now?
The EOT trustee board will include Louise Goodwin, independent trustee Mike Williams and Helen Roberts, a supervisor at Sandy Mount House. Mike Williams is an employee ownership consultant at Cwmpas.
The business’s board of directors will be led by manager Dan Pritchard. He will serve alongside Gary Phillips, Sandy Mount House’s longest-serving employee and maintenance manager, and finance manager Iolo Jones.
Phil and Louise Goodwin will remain with the business for several months to help ensure a smooth handover before the EOT assumes full control. They will retain ownership of the building itself.
What support was provided for the transfer?
The transition to employee ownership was supported by Cwmpas, a division of Social Business Wales that is funded by the Welsh Government. Legal advice was provided by TLT LLP, while Azets carried out the property valuation.
As reported by The Caterer, Cwmpas employee ownership consultant Mike Williams said:
“It has been great to work with Louise and Phil, as well as the management team at Sandy Mount House, on its transition into Employee Ownership.”
He added: “This hotel is a jewel in the crown of Ynys Mon (Anglesey) and so it’s so good to see that it won’t be swallowed up by a larger hotel chain and that the close knit, community feel that the Goodwins and the team have created at Sandy Mount House will remain for the foreseeable future.”
As reported by Insider Media, Lucy Hedges, senior associate at TLT LLP, said: “It has been a pleasure to support Louise and Phil in transitioning Sandy Mount House Rhosneigr Limited to employee ownership.”
What does employee ownership mean for the hotel?
An Employee Ownership Trust holds a company on behalf of its employees. In this case, the trust will own Sandy Mount House Rhosneigr Limited, while the existing management team and board of directors continue to run operations.
The arrangement is intended to preserve the hotel’s independent character and local employment. Phil Goodwin said the EOT would help keep the business embedded in the Rhosneigr community and maintain jobs for local people.
The hotel remains on Rhosneigr High Street, in a building that has been part of village life since the early 20th century. According to the business’s own website, the site previously operated as the Sandymount café, guest house, private members’ club and free house.
Background of the development
Phil and Louise Goodwin acquired the former Sandymount property in March 2018 and invested substantially in its refurbishment. The business opened as Sandy Mount House, a contemporary beach-house restaurant, bar and hotel designed to serve both visitors and the local community.
The building dates from around 1902 and has previously operated in several forms, including as a café, guest house, private members’ club and free house. The Goodwins’ refurbishment was supported by hospitality consultants One Call Management, with designer Michelle Derbyshire working alongside Louise Goodwin on the interior.
In 2022, Sandy Mount House also developed plans for a separate fine-dining restaurant, Y Parlwr, a few doors from its main site in Rhosneigr. As reported by The Caterer at the time, the business purchased the former Sullivans bistro premises for £350,000, with then-head chef Hefin Roberts leading the project.
Prediction: what could this mean for staff and Rhosneigr?
For Sandy Mount House employees, the transfer could provide greater long-term involvement in the business they operate daily. The EOT structure places ownership with a trust on behalf of the workforce, while Dan Pritchard, Gary Phillips and Iolo Jones take places on the board of directors.
For Rhosneigr, the development may help retain local hospitality jobs and maintain an independently operated visitor business in the village. Phil Goodwin specifically linked the move to keeping the hotel embedded in the community and preserving employment for local people.
For visitors, the immediate operational effect appears limited: the hotel, bar and restaurant will continue trading under the same name and management structure during the transition. Over the longer term, the key measure will be whether the employee-owned model can sustain the hotel’s staffing, service standards and independent identity after the Goodwins complete their withdrawal.
