Ragley Hall - a glorious stately home run along serious business lines

Warwickshire has just been named the sixth most must-see destination in Europe - and the top must-see locations of all in the UK - by the Lonely Planet guide. The accolade came as a giant boost to a tourism industry which pumps £720 million a year into the economy.

The tourism industry is driven heavily, of course, by the county's many stunning historical locations. At each of these, behind the grandeur of the buildings and grounds, lie the hard realities of running a business. Alan Granger, chief executive and resident land agent at Ragley Hall, near Alcester, explains.

Ragley Hall, nestling in the breathtaking countryside of south Warwickshire, is not a bad place to have an office, admits Alan Granger.

An elegant Grade One-listed mansion, the hall sits at the centre of a magnificent 6,500-acre estate of rolling parkland.

"There are very few days when I don't want to come into the office," said Alan, who has been chief executive at Ragley Hall for 15 years. "It is a fantastic environment to work in. A special place."

Special, it certainly is. Yet on a business level, the same gruelling fundamentals apply at Ragley as at anywhere.

Alan's job, like that of any CEO, has its challenges. The same ones that apply to any business, in fact, plus a few that do not apply to most.

Like striving for commercial profitability while respecting and maintaining an estate which has been the ancestral seat of the resident family for more than 300 years. That's a big, complex job.

"It is tough for us, just like it is for all businesses," Alan said. "Like everyone we are dealing with rises in tax-liability, the cost of inputs rises in VAT and the cost of employing people while, all the time, people expect to pay less for services.

"We're no different to any other business in having to deal with those factors. Where we are different is that we need to be commercially effective but, at a place like this, it is not just about profit. It is also about doing the right thing."

Ragley Hall is home to the ninth Marquess and Marchioness of Hertford and their four children and has been the family seat since 1680. There's some serious history to the place.

That history almost ended in the 1950s when the trustees wanted to demolish it - only for nine-year-old Hugh Hertford, the eighth Marquess, to forbid it as he intended to live there one day.

Ragley Hall escaped demolition. Instead came reinvention. The spectacular estate held obvious commercial opportunities and in 1958 was opened to the public for the first time. Since then the quest to exploit those opportunities has been ongoing.

There are five strands to its business. Rental income and the farm are the two biggest income-streams, each generating around £1.5million per year alongside the house business, the retail butcher's and woodland businesses. The estate employs 45 staff full-time and more than 40 seasonal.

"The big challenge is finding the cash to do all the things we want to do," Alan said. "We need a lot of people - and people are expensive. We have a lot of assets but they are mostly tied up in property, so we have to generate income.

"Maintenance costs on the hall alone run to hundreds of thousands of pounds per year. The hall is a significant burden for the estate to maintain - but the reason the estate is here is to look after the hall.

"It is a big operation. When you think of everyone who live or work on the estate there are probably around 600 people whose livelihoods are directly connected with it."

To safeguard those livelihoods, this ancient ancestral seat has diversified. It hosts all manner of events from car rallies to wedding receptions and conferences to cricket matches. Film-makers have been seduced by its grandeur. Ragley has featured in TV productions as wide-ranging as Dr Who (The Girl in the Fireplace in 2006), Vanity Fair, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Flog It.

"We have to make the most of this wonderful place," said Alan, "but of course within the constraints of the hall being Grade One listed. We cannot and certainly wouldn't wish to go down the theme-park route.

"Our challenge is similar to that facing the National Trust: to excite people about what is essentially the natural landscape and offer them an old-fashioned day out in a beautiful place."

There are few more beautiful places than Ragley Hall. And powered by Alan's team, and a constantly evolving business plan, it appears that, as well as a long history, it has a bright and busy future.