WHAT Happened To ASHVILLE & What Is NEXT?

I'm Daniel.

And this was Asheville as I, you, we knew it.

And in this yard, many a time I said, "It's Monday morning and I'm in the yard. It's Monday

morning.

We're in the yard. It's Monday morning and I'm in the yard. It's Monday morning and we're in the yard." For those of you who don't know, Asheville is a group of companies within the construction sector

which build, renovate, and convert homes.

Now, we used to supply aggregates, concrete, waste management, and plant hire, but now we only build and refurbish homes because the business

went through a number of changes between 2021 to 2024. The dust has now settled and I'm here to fill in the blanks and

tell you about the future of Asheville.

So, now we need to work out how we're going to get back here. I will not be managed. That is not going to happen. I

managed. That is not going to happen. I

have lost everything. I'm furious.

Before talking about the future, we need to talk about how we got here.

I spent 20 years of my life growing companies which at one point collectively had over 70 members of staff, 40 lorries, 30 machines, and

turned over almost 20 million pounds annually. Now, those companies served a

annually. Now, those companies served a mix of residential, commercial, and government infrastructure projects.

I am a boots-on-the-ground, lead-by-example type of guy who did not learn anything in a classroom.

I learned everything from experience, out in the field, at the tip of the spear.

I started out as a one-man band on sites and on the road in the daytime, and I did my paperwork on evenings and weekends. I wanted to create companies

weekends. I wanted to create companies around my childhood passions, which I did and was very proud of.

But those companies got so big that I crossed over from a small, growing, dynamic, and profitable business into one which was forced into the corporate

world of finance, compliance, structures, and warfare, which I knew nothing about. As far as I was concerned, when we were busy, we had

money to buy new kit, to train the lads, and to advertise so we grow. When we're

not busy, we keep our heads down and keep plowing away for better days.

I had a very rude awakening crossing over from a big small business to a small big business.

Some elements, like accounting and forecasting, were good.

Rather than me saying there's money in the account, I'm going to go and buy a lorry 3 months before Christmas when the majority of the clients who owed us money

historically paid late.

Now, that helped me to avoid some cash flow issues. Other elements of the big

flow issues. Other elements of the big corporate business world complicated matters, created jobs and costs, and did

not generate one penny in revenue whatsoever.

But it was my understanding at the time that the way I had grown the business to that point would no longer work taking us to to next level, and I had too many

staff to carry on in the same way.

In 2021, COVID times, we were approached by what appeared to be a financially strong and competent group

that wanted to partner with us.

That our partnership failed because I was deceived by their managers and owners spoken words and fraudulent documents.

In the process of this, our reserves were completely exhausted, and we were forced into our first

restructure, which is completely my fault.

Cuz at that particular time, I was inexperienced in partnerships and mergers, and naive enough to believe that what I was told were

true, the documents were legitimate, and that it is enough to look someone in the eyes and shake their hand.

In the end, I had to use my personal resources to effectively buy my company's back or lose them forever.

We managed to survive, barely.

Lesson learned. And just when we began to rebuild and saw the light at the end of a very long tunnel,

we were forced to leave a site that we had just spent the last 5 years investing in to perfect our site operations.

The old landlord had sold to new owners who wanted to triple the rent, so negotiations with them were hopeless.

We found a solution.

A new home next door.

But it required significant investment, which wasn't a problem as our new landlord was understanding, provided a long-term lease which gave us comfort

and allowed us to create a new West London rail hub.

And then the owners of the old site after forcing us from it developed a

modeled legal standpoint where they said our notice to vacate was rejected and we had to pay for the old site for the next 5 years, which we of course couldn't

afford to do.

That, combined with a significant downturn in trade in due to the wider economy and scheduled government infrastructure projects which we geared up for being put on hold, meant we were

forced into our second restructure because we could no longer afford to meet our financial obligations paying for two sites.

And then the company who were providing funding for the restructure transaction decided that it wasn't for them 1 hour

before the deadline.

And as a result some of the companies within our group could no longer trade.

There was still hope to rebuild, but this time in a new format due to a loyal client base and a reputation that we have built up over

many years.

But, due to financial pressures and the old landlord's representatives aggressive standpoint, no matter what we did, they would be waiting with a bill

for the old site for the next 5 years and had the financial resources for a long legal battle, which we do not.

There was a lot I wanted to say and do, but couldn't as I was in and remain in legal battles with international

multi-billion pound companies representing myself.

I lost a large proportion of my life's work and savings, and I'm not going to lie,

it was both mentally and physically very hard. Like, stress is like a crazy

very hard. Like, stress is like a crazy thing. You don't know how your body's

thing. You don't know how your body's going to react when you're under that much pressure.

Some of your bodily functions will just begin to shut down.

And then there's the public humiliation.

People were making comments and videos saying things which were untrue as they didn't have the full facts

which they didn't have because I did not divulge the information at the time.

People made judgments on the decisions I made without knowing the options I had.

Which is my fault because I'm the one who decided to share my journey.

And you cannot enjoy the celebration of your climb and then complain when you appear to fall

and get kicked on the way down.

So, I picked myself up dusted myself off continued to try and get in as much as I could for creditors

sold the remaining kit we had on finance to repay the asset funders in full who agreed to work with us handed over elements which I could

continued to push on with the remaining construction projects and did my best to honor all of my obligations.

And now the question that I've been asked a thousand times "How is the yard going?"

"What's the latest progress update?"

And are you even in there?

The answer is no.

You know that I am into trains. Are you not into trains?

ARE YOU NOT INTO TRAINS? And I love rail.

So, the yard was handed over to Power Day, who you've seen me working with in the past.

Network Rail have always been good to me.

And Power Day always work with me a lot of the time when others wouldn't.

They've always been fair and above all trustworthy.

So, I thought it to be a perfect match.

The yard would be completed in line with my dreams and obligations to Network Rail.

And Power Day are a company who are focused on recycling, sustainability, and they would have a new outlet.

No introductions were needed as they knew each other already from other sites which Power Day have. And I

am not involved in the yard day-to-day, but I do pop in regularly to see some of the old faces that you know well.

We do have a yard as a base of operations for our construction work where we can store all of our kit and work on it. It's not

nearly the same size as the rail yard, but we don't need a yard of that size because we don't have to store material and we don't have lorries coming in and out all day. Plus, if I had a yard of that size, I'd probably just fill it

with things that I may use in the future. And what is the point in paying

future. And what is the point in paying for square footage to store things which you may use? I have learned that it's better to either rent or buy something

when you need it and when you're done, give it back or sell it.

I will be honest.

I do not miss aggregates, concrete, waste management, and plant hire.

With the benefit of hindsight, I see them as low margin, high volume, volatile,

high risk work. Now, I can see in other parts of the country, which aren't as saturated, how it can work.

Or down here in London, long-established companies with cash reserves who aren't reliant on volatile landlords and own

their own site. But for me, who only started those lines to serve our construction company, and then it organically morphed into the animal it became,

I believe I can do much more stable, profitable work.

Now, I will miss looking at 40 lorries parked up on an evening and then leaving the yard in the morning with Ashville written on the side of it.

But once that passes and the glamour fades, if it doesn't make money, then who are you doing it for?

And I've had time to take a long hard look at myself and the businesses and try to analyze

whether any of the decisions were made with ego or vanity.

And if in fact the juice was worth the squeeze.

The same team still now work at Ashville on the build projects. The likes of Vesha, David, Dudek, Chris, and Martin.

My tawny is still with me and I still speak to some of the people that used to work for Asheville. Every now and then I see an Asheville driver on the road in one of their new trucks and I get a wave

and a And of course, Michael O'Donovan is still up to his old tricks.

So no one can find him at the minute cuz he's gone skin.

I don't know why I keep saying it but he's gone skin. And he's gone and I'll try he wants a tenner out of Get back on the bus. You may have seen within our

the bus. You may have seen within our weekly show Asheville Weekly, we had a section called Asheville Antiques, which is basically me buying old kit and then storing it because we may need it in the future.

Well, I have come to terms with my addiction and all that old kit was sold off by the companies who owned it. Items

like the Olympic offices and containers.

And without a rail yard, we had no use for the train which I was going to refurbish to create a reception area. So

that idea was scrapped. Power Day took on the LAX 60 but later decided it didn't work for them. When we bought it, it was tracking up and down on made

ground and over material. And the LAX 60 with a full tank of fuel and a bucket full of material weighs close to 70 tons. So tracking up and down on the

tons. So tracking up and down on the significant changes in the yard and all the concrete can cause damage to both the new concrete and the tracks. So

Power Day moved it on to another friend of mine in East London who uses it on the docks to load and offload barges.

When I started in business, I wanted to live out my boyhood dreams and I wanted to create income producing

assets that appreciated over time.

Then over time, I got bogged down in day-to-day operations, which were all consuming.

The noise was so loud that I couldn't hear the signals, nor could I see the wood for the trees.

Without the day-to-day noise, I have the benefit of something that I haven't had in 20 years.

Time.

Time to unpick the past, run multiple scenarios of the future, work out how to actually achieve what I

set out to do, and ask myself a few questions.

For better or worse, my personality trait is that I want to work.

I want to be involved. I want to perfect whatever I'm doing, and I now realize that my time horizons are a lot longer than most people's. You see, I'm looking

10 and 15 years into the future when some people are looking to the end of the week, the month, or even that year.

Now, I spent many years continually reinvesting completely into the businesses so they would grow, and looking back, I see now that that

was a mistake because it made my losses so much greater.

So, that's one point that I'm going to need to address moving forward.

I have experience in construction.

I have done every job in a construction company from laboring to bookkeeping.

I now have experience in the corporate world with finance and structuring.

I can take the elements which I deem useful like accounting and apply them into new business models.

I now know that bigger is not necessarily better.

And employing new staff is no guarantee of profitable growth.

So, we will continue with selected construction projects and my new venture with business partners will be the planning,

build, project management and then operating a short-term let 22-unit luxury scheme

in St. Lucia.

in St. Lucia.

Yes, that's what I said. In St. Lucia.

On a plot of land facing the Caribbean Sea which has been in my family for the past 20 years where over the years I've designed, appraised and stress-tested multiple

schemes from a hotel to luxury homes but didn't find the time or right dynamic to make it financially viable.

I've gone back to the drawing board and redesigned to capitalize on the evolution of holidaymakers' quest for alternative accommodation to experience and share

the authenticity of their destinations.

I've set myself a tight deadline and the plan is to transform this overgrown plot of land which is 5 minutes from multiple beaches by utilizing hilly terrain to create a sunset sea view.

The 16 one-bedroom apartments, two two-bedroom apartments and four private villas.

Don't call it a hotel and don't call it Airbnb either.

It's a hybrid concept of managed luxury short-term let apartments and villas within a gated community with amenities for guests such as a state-of-the-art gym, recovery and wellness facilities, a

restaurant, and communal swimming pool with a sunset sea view.

Now is the perfect time as tourism makes up a large part of St. Lucia's economy

and the island as a whole is currently booming. The St. Lucian government are

booming. The St. Lucian government are also very accommodating and welcome back returning nationals with open arms. Their plans for growth and development have inspired confidence, which has

trickled down to local banks and investors who have a strong appetite to financing this sector.

I've done the maths and the return on investment is considerably more attractive than alternatives I assess globally within sectors applicable to what I would see as my skill sets.

To be clear and address the elephant in the room, I am not following social media hype and running to a country where I don't have

to pay tax and where I can flex and I am not running from any battles. I have

stayed here and fronted each and every situation until its conclusion thus far.

I have looked at multiple scenarios and I am starting a business in a country where I am no stranger, where my family are from, where I have visited since I

was a child, and where we have a plot of land which was purchased 20 years ago which we have done nothing with.

I am going to be in St. Lucia for the entirety of the build process, project managing, and procuring And I think this should take roughly

24 months in total. Then for the opening and start of operationally running the site, which I admit is going to be a little bit of a learning curve for me.

For once, the project manager that no one asked for has been hired.

Albeit by himself.

So I'm basically jumping out the frying pan and into the fire.

And the project will need significant amounts of kit, which I have already been assembling. Some of which will be

been assembling. Some of which will be shipped from the UK across the globe.

One of the problems in the past with content was that it began to take time away from day-to-day business. And I've

realized that that is because of the time constraints. If I have committed

time constraints. If I have committed that a video will come out on a particular day at a particular time, and I just cannot have a video going out

which I believe is not up to our standards. I have to stop what I'm doing

standards. I have to stop what I'm doing to watch it, or stay up all night to watch it and make notes. Another problem

in documenting in real time is that you give people the ammunition to try to sabotage you.

So with that in mind, I would like to confirm that Asheville Weekly will begin again at episode 251.

But, it will be roughly 8 to 10 weeks behind to ease the time pressures and give us a little bit of wiggle room.

We have already filmed and edited some standalone videos sharing the decision process and showcasing some of our new kit, which is now uploaded to the channel and scheduled as premieres. If

you're interested in our new kit, please have a look and set some reminders.

Now, those videos could have come out already, but I felt it better to try and explain

and answer some of the unanswered questions so I don't confuse or mislead anyone.

And we have already started filming Asheville Weekly, which is going to start in the UK preparing for the move, getting in the kit, servicing,

strengthening, making alterations, remapping. Then there's going to be the

remapping. Then there's going to be the packing and the shipping, and then it's receiving the goods on the other side.

And I need to travel the world looking at fixtures and fittings like taps, toilets, shower mixers, shower heads, windows, doors, and then the build

itself is going to be covered brick by brick or more accurately wall by wall because I'm bringing my own formwork and the structure has been designed for

simplicity. After the major cut and fill

simplicity. After the major cut and fill exercise, which is required, it's going to be slab, wall wall wall wall, slab, wall wall wall wall, roof.

Now, it's not going to be as simple with the private villas and the lower levels with the swimming pool, gym, and restaurant, but we will come to that later.

And there's another element completely outside of the actual build, which is the who, what, where, and why.

You've seen me in the past sometimes put the cart before the horse.

Not this time.

I have spent weeks studying analytical data trying to home in on exactly who our guests will be.

How old are they? What demographic? Who

makes a decision? How long do they stay for? Where do they travel from? What is

for? Where do they travel from? What is

their average income and how often do they travel?

I'm slightly outside the norm, but research has shown me that that could be because the concept of discovering and exploring the real St. Lucia, not

keeping people trapped within resorts, has not been pursued or executed effectively as of yet.

And there's so much that I'm still considering.

Should I have a paddle court? Or am I getting myself stuck in the hype? Or

will I end up dismantling this thing in 2 years and trying to make some kind of tennis court? The new website is

tennis court? The new website is currently under construction, but if you'd like to be kept up to date with the progress and be one of the first to know when the reservation portal is open, please visit ashvilleheights.com

to register your interest. As towards

the end of the build, I'm going to open the reservation portal on a live so we can all see in real time how many people book. But before that, for 2 weeks, I'm

book. But before that, for 2 weeks, I'm going to invite friends and family and document myself and the team, which I don't have yet,

learning to operate and getting over any teething problems of changing bed linen, changing towels, running a restaurant, looking after the swimming pool, and

welcoming guests, and creating and maintaining a deliberate on-brand environment

which enables people to relax while inspiring them at the same time. This

will be everything from how staff interact to how a bed is made to the smells of the soap available in the bathrooms. While all this is taking place,

I will be sharing the battle in my mind of spreadsheets and the bottom line versus

the magic things you do in a business which are immeasurable but make it succeed.

Currently, I'm about 80/20.

I'm on the road again.

Saturday morning and I'm not in the yard. I am at my flat

yard. I am at my flat which I have just sold.

You going to suffer the consequences.

Drain it, obviously no cover. We're

going to put a car in the pool. Well,

I'm going to show him how it's going to be done properly.

I'm trying to build your house, brother, but you won't let me.

BREATH!

BREATH!

You'll not regret this, Dom. Take a deep breath. Take a deep breath. Take a deep

breath. Take a deep breath. Take a deep breath.

I'm not in the yard. You know, we're not in the yard. Back by popular demand, a train getting loaded.

The client has decided we need to take it all out and start again.

Upgrade, improve, and prepare it for the trip.

The page has turned and it's the start of a new chapter which will not be without challenges.

To this point I don't feel like I've ever had the benefit of hindsight.

But with time I can say now in some areas I feel like I do.

Painful clarity is better than strung out confusing hope.

Your past does not dictate your future and perceived failures do not define you.

For progress one must choose the uncomfortable option again and again and again.

And it does not get any easier.

We only become stronger and more resilient.

I will never be younger than I am today.

So I'm going to pivot and point my energy in a new more calculated direction.

Because as they say your limitations only live in your mind.

So we all must try.

I say try as tomorrow is promised to no one and there are no guarantees.

So what else can any of us do but try and try and try again.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you to those of you who have been following our a and stay tuned for the next steps in the Ashville journey.