Castle Collectablesand Northumberland Estates Task 2b Competitors - Northumberland estates competes with is competitors well mainly because of the castle

   Economic Conditions - Northumberland Estates copes with the changes in economic conditions well and they constantly have to change the business to fit with the ever-changing economic trends and conditions. Rising and falling interest rates affect them although none of their deliveries come from overseas, quite a lot of the tourists do and the tourists will be effected by the rate of inflation and they don’t want to be buying souvenirs that are really expensive compared to what the can get for the dollar in USA and they don’t want to be spending more money than they can afford. Therefore the lower the rate of inflation the better it is for Northumberland Estates. Also with fuel costs getting higher and higher people are being put off the drive because they can’t afford the petrol or if they do it wont leave them with any excess money so they are being put off day trips and long weekends.

   Environmental Constraints - Northumberland Estates deal with the environmental constraints well but 1 major issue that they are always having problems with is the lack of parking that they have and they are put under pressure from the conservation orders that are put upon the land. They don’t have any problems with noise pollutions or smoke pollution. They are however affected by the weather because if it’s a good day then the castle and gardens will be busy but it its raining they are less likely to have as many visitors because no one really wants to get soaked walking around but they have to accept that the weather is an uncontrollable constraint. So they are affected by some and not by others however they cope very well and they are always being put under more pressure constantly.

   Location - The location of Northumberland Estates is more an advantage than a disadvantage because Alnwick is a tourist town but it’s more like the location picked them because the castle has been there for hundreds of years. They are lucky that the castle is in Alnwick because Alnwick is a good tourist town and its easy accessible to lorries and buses bringing tourists in to Alnwick however there is still the shortage of parking for people who come to visit the castle for a day trip but don’t come on a coach.