Horwood House Hotel The Butterfly Resort

Horwood House Hotel & Spa sits within 38 acres of Buckinghamshire countryside and it has a strong commitment to conservation and sustainability. From its expansive gardens to its wider environmental initiatives, the property is proud of its connection to nature – and wanted to showcase this in a way that would resonate with guests, the local community, corporate partners and the wider media.

In Autumn 2024, following its annual Big Butterfly Count, leading charity, Butterfly Conservation, announced a national “butterfly emergency”, with the results having revealed numbers were in serious decline.

We saw an opportunity to align Horwood’s ethos with an important environmental conversation, offering a timely news hook that chimed with the hotel’s values and central ethos. The challenge was to create a concept that not only highlighted the plight of butterflies, but also demonstrated Horwood’s role as a hotel brand actively engaged in supporting biodiversity.

Our idea centred on a simple yet potentially powerful concept, which married Horwood’s values with its core offering.

Our thought process effectively centred on, if Horwood already provided a haven for people, why not create one for butterflies too?

This saw us propose building a “Butterfly Hotel” in the grounds – an installation that would serve both as a conservation project and a striking piece of storytelling to capture media attention.Wanting to emphasise the sense of community as part of it, and to help bring it to life, we collaborated with three local schools, inviting pupils to decorate butterfly houses in bright, eye-catching designs.

The project was embraced with huge enthusiasm, with children producing colourful, imaginative creations that reflected the joy and vibrancy of nature – especially the multicoloured appearance of butterflies.

Once complete, the houses were delivered to Horwood, where the hotel’s gardening team took the concept to the next level. Rather than positioning the houses into the shape of Horwood House to imitate the shape of the hotel, they created an entire “Butterfly Resort,” complete with miniature playground, winding roads and even a football pitch – transforming the project into something memorable and reflective of the children’s input.

With the resort assembled, we then captured striking video and photography of the installation – including live butterflies on the houses – while also inviting Butterfly Conservation trustee Hugh Ellerton to provide expert commentary on how people can help support the species. His involvement lent authority to the project, while reinforcing Horwood’s conservation credentials – but also imparting advice that people can take up and use at home and beyond.

The unveiling of the Butterfly Resort made an immediate impact, with the story gaining extensive traction across regional and national media. Within the first week, coverage exceeded 50 pieces, including:

• Television: Regional broadcaster BBC Look East took our content and included it in their evening news bulletin, before ITV’s This Morning visited the hotel, which saw conservationist Megan McCubbin (Chris Packham’s stepdaughter no less) present a feature on butterfly decline – interviewing Horwood’s hotel manager, Leighton, alongside a representative of Butterfly Conservation.

• Radio: BBC Three Counties and Greatest Hits Radio, both featuring segments on the launch.
• Press and online: Alongside the broadcast coverage, BBC News online also published a story, while key regional titles such as the Bucks Herald, Milton Keynes Citizen, Bedford Today, and many more local outlets also covered the story. Furthermore trade press across both hospitality and sustainable outlets, such as Sustainable Hotel News and the Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust, also featured the resort.

Alongside all of the above, the project also secured a print feature in The Times, which not only highlighted the Butterfly Resort but delved into Horwood’s broader conservation efforts – cementing its positioning as a brand that takes its environmental responsibility seriously.

To add another layer, with relationships with ITV cemented via the Butterfly Resort visit, Horwood subsequently hosted an ITV competition winners’ celebration at the hotel. With presenters Jeff Brazier and Andi Peters in attendance, alongside winners enjoying the hotel’s facilities, the event was showcased across ITV’s morning programming – providing further national visibility for the property.

The campaign combined creativity with purpose, using a topical issue to spark attention and deliver meaningful coverage. It demonstrated Horwood’s conservation focus in a way that was both playful and engaging, as well as media-friendly and with a strong community focus – ultimately raising brand awareness and reinforcing its reputation, while also supporting the hotel’s commercial goal of driving bookings.