Open Air Business February 2018

ISSUE 16 | February 2018 | www.openairbusiness.com 

BUSINESS 

FUNCTION VENUES 

> Hosting Children 

> Brands go Outdoors 

/ / 

> 

GLAMPSITES 

> Resorts 

> 2018 and Beyond 

EVENTS 

> Local Liaison 

Risk Assessments 

CASE STUDIES: 

WILD LUXURY • CHURCH FARM • UNEARTHED FESTIVAL

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WELCOME 

Welcome 

IN PLANNING MY own wedding this year I am starting to experience 

first hand how important customer service is in this industry. In my 

search for the perfect venue, which admittedly has to tick a lot of 

boxes, I am understanding more and more how service providers can 

get off on the wrong foot by missing the simplest things. For instance, 

if someone has driven many hours to see you, offer them a cup of tea! 

It warms my heart, therefore, to read about those of you out there 

that really do go that extra mile for your clients. Hats off to Will and 

Kate Bicknell of Church Farm, Wiltshire, who, despite running what 

could be described as a dry hire venue, do so much for their couples. I won’t go into it here 

but do read the comprehensive case study on how they service their customers – it sounds 

exhausting! 

There’s something about this industry that attracts people with a deeply embedded desire 

to do their best by their fellow man. I loved hearing the success story that is Wild Luxury, a 

really very large (in glampsite terms) business on the North Norfolk coast. Despite turning 

over £60,000 pounds in a week, founder Jonathan Barber is committed to an ethos that truly 

embraces the adventure of outdoor getaways – the stuff childhood holidays should be made 

of – and is mindful of not losing sight of that as his business continues to grow. 

Keeping with the theme of maintaining happy relationships, John Radford gives us some 

practical advice on stakeholder engagement for events. Don’t be afraid to face your potential 

nay sayers – it’s an opportunity to more than neutralise their fears; you might convert their 

influence and networks into useful promotional and logistical assets! 

Tally Wade 

Editor / Publisher 

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PUBLISHERS 

Steve Rix - steve@openairbusiness.com 

Tally Wade - tally@openairbusiness.com 

EDITOR 

Tally Wade - tally@openairbusiness.com 

ADVERTISING SALES 

Marney Whyte - 01892 677740 

marney@openairbusiness.com 

DESIGN 

James English - 

www.jamesenglishdesign.co.uk 

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The House on the Hill, Friezley Lane, 

Cranbrook, Kent, TN17 2LL 

t: 01580 848555 

Contents ISSUE #16 February 2018 

UP FRONT 

4 News 

6 Product News 

8 Funding Streams– the CLA helps you 

tackle rural funding programmes 


13 Church Farm – going the extra 

mile for couples, with a hands on 

approach 

18 Hosting Children – is your venue 

doing enough? 

22 Brands go Outdoors – why ‘business’ 

is embracing the open air 

26 OAB Loves… Pop Up 

Accommodation – add it to your 

offering 

GLAMPSITES 

29 Wild Luxury – sleeping 120 while 

maintaining a ‘wild’ ethos 

36 Glamping Resorts – could you be in 

on the action? 

43 2018 and Beyond – forecasting the 

glamping landscape 

46 OAB Loves… Exteriors – products 

to help with yours 

EVENTS 

49 Unearthed Festival – an event to 

expand the mind 

53 Risk Assessments – have you got 

your head round them? 

56 Local Liaison – the importance of 

getting it right 

60 Supplier Profile – Europa 

International 

62 Spotlight 

65 Classifieds 

66 Ask Periwinkle 

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COVER PHOTO 

A Losberger De Boer uniflex event structure with 

3m annex canopy at the Goodwood Festival of 

Speed. 01280 846500 / sales.uk@deboer.com 

www.losbergerdeboer.com 

WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM 3

The latest news from the world of outdoor hospitality 

A Greener Festival 

Announces 2017 Award 

Winners 

INTERNATIONAL NOT FOR profit organisation A 

Greener Festival (AGF) has announced the 34 

winners of the 11th A Greener Festival Award 

and the first Greener Event Awards from summer 

2017. 

Festivals and events from 12 countries 

participated in the award, with applicants 

undergoing a rigorous assessment, site visit and 

post event analysis of their event’s sustainability 

actions. Events are assessed on 11 main areas 

including transport, waste, power, water, and 

local area impacts. 

An awards ceremony for winners was held 

at Eurosonic Noorderslag, Netherlands, on 

18 January. Among the winners classified as 

Outstanding were UK events Green Gathering 

and Wood Festival. In the Highly Commended 

category were the Cambridge Folk Festival, 

Greenbelt Festival, and HebCelt. 

Robin Bennett, organiser of Wood Festival, 

said: “Ever since we started we’ve wanted 

Wood Festival to be an inspiring example of 

sustainability in action. Working with A Greener 

Festival gives us an objective, fair assessment of 

how we’re doing and, with their help and support, 

we keep trying to improve. We are thrilled to 

be judged Outstanding just in time for our 10th 

anniversary!” 

Applications are now open for the Greener 

Festival Award 2018. Events should contact 

hello@agreenerfestival.com to apply. 

Boutique Camping’s 

Kickstarter Campaign 

BOUTIQUE CAMPING HAS launched the Star bell tent range on 

Kickstarter. By crowdsourcing the company hopes to achieve a 

figure of £100,000 for manufacturing a full collection. The 5m Star 

bell was released and tested in the market last year, with a limited 

production of 50 units. 

Boutique Camping is an e-commerce website founded in 2010 by 

Ollie Mundy and Fiaz Iqbal, who made it their mission to create a 

company that was fun and colourful, and aimed towards traditional 

camping and festival glampers. www.boutiquecamping.com 

Ludlow Glampsite on 

the Market for £2m 

BLEATHWOOD LODGES, LUDLOW, comprises 13 acres and is being marketed 

at just shy of £2 million. It currently has just seven glamping pods but has 

been granted planning permission for 176 holiday units (60 touring pitches, 

100 tent pitches, six static caravan pitches and eight further glamping pods). 

Agent Lee Southan said: “This is an incredibly rare opportunity for someone 

looking to develop and own their own holiday park. The park presents 

potential operators with a real blank canvas to create a thriving leisure 

business in one of the most picturesque parts of the country. 

“On top of the excellent park development opportunity there is also a 

modern and newly refurbished home and annex accommodation, a boxing 

and fitness gym, additional meeting facilities and a brand new function room 

with bar." 

The property is on the market with Sanderson Weatherall. For further 

information or to book a viewing call 01884 256741. 

4 WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM

Cornwall’s 

The AA 

First 

and 

Stone 

Be 

Circle 

My 

in 

Guest 

2,000 Years 

Announce Partnership 

BE MY GUEST is delighted to announce an 

industry partnership with The AA Hotel & 

Hospitality Services for the forthcoming 

event series in February, launched to 

provide a platform for the UK’s small 

accommodation providers. 

The multi-faceted partnership is capped 

by a funded initiative which will see Be 

My Guest visitors enjoy a 20% saving on 

the AA Quality Assessment Scheme for 

their properties throughout the UK. The 

saving is wholly funded by the senior 

management team behind the Be My Guest 

project who are dedicated to bringing 

together a fragmented marketplace 

through their regional roadshow series. 

Be My Guest director Jim Curry 

explained: “The AA has been inspecting 

and recommending accommodation 

providers for over a century, ensuring that 

standards and quality service are second 

to none. the breadth of the categories 

of the AA’s Quality Assessment Scheme 

makes this saving appealing for all 

providers across the board from B&Bs, 

guesthouses, holiday rentals and small 

hotels right through to independent hosts, 

campsites and self-catering properties.” 

Be My Guest will hold one-day, freeto-attend 

road shows to help providers 

connect, learn and discover in a new 

event format featuring a marketplace, 

learning roundtables and a business talks 

stage. www.bemyguest.live 

Register for EPS 

The UK’s leading event for live and 

outdoor events is taking place at 

Olympia, London, on Wednesday 

28 February and Thursday 1 March. 

Register and plan your visit by visiting 

www.eventproductionshow.co.uk 

The Right People 

for the Right Job 

At EEP we have great staff to support 

you across your events covering: 

· Health & Safety, pre-event and on-site 

· Floor Management 

· Security Management 

· Crowd Management 

· Emergency and Evacuation Planning 

· Crisis Management, including desk top 

exercises 

01483 266 486 or 020 8545 2492 

www.theeventpartnership.co.uk 

www.eepsafety.com 


PRODUCT 

Four Huts, 

One Unit 

LOCATED ON THE Isle of 

Wight are four traditional selfbuild 

shepherd huts that have 

been designed to create a unique 

glamping experience. Into the 

Woods Glamping is owned by 

Fiona and Will Headington and 

they have created a holiday 

let unit called ‘Shepherd’s 

Hideaway’ using four huts from 

Blackdown Shepherd Huts. 

Instead of the usual single hut, 

each unit is a different room set 

around a private decked area. 

Constructed by Will on site 

using Blackdown Shepherd 

Huts’ self-build hut option, one 

hut is a 16ft master bedroom 

with double bed and en-suite, 

another features four bunk beds 

with en-suite, and the other two 

huts are conjoined to create a 

larger living room/kitchen/diner 

with full facilities. All of the huts 

are heated, and hot tub hire is 

available for added luxury. www. 

blackdownshepherdhuts.co.uk 

GIVE 

AWAY 

Win a Microfibre Drying 

Robe from Giso Microfibre 

– RRP £40. Email info@ 

openairbusiness.com by 1 

March to be in the draw. 

See www.gisomicrofibre. 

com for more. 

Boldscan in 

Demand for 

Expanding 

Glampsites 

FOLLOWING ITS LAUNCH at the 

Glamping Show in the autumn, Boldscan’s 

first Etosha Lodge from the Albion Canvas 

range will soon be installed at Middle 

Stone Farm near Taunton, Somerset. 

Owners Catherine and Patrick Heard 

already have three Tsavo safari-style tents 

from the range and are expanding with 

the Etosha, in a traditional sand coloured 

canvas with green flysheets, and a further 

two 6m wide Tsavos. 

The Etosha has been designed to 

give a truly flexible space, allowing easy 

disabled access, en-suite bathrooms and 

four or more bedrooms, sleeping eight 

to 10. Varying the bedroom layouts can 

increase this to 12. The covered front 

The National Trust 

Specifies Candled's 

LED Candles 

CANDLED’S REAL WAX LED flameless candles 

were launched in 2016 and are now a feature 

of National Trust properties, including 

Arlington Court and Saltram House, where 70 

candles have been installed. The company 

is now working with Snowshill Manor in the 

Cotswolds, converting chandeliers to take the 

LED candles and work off mains electricity. 

The candles were also used at last year’s 

Leeds Castle Flower Festival, with the Academy 

of Floral Art showcasing floral arrangements to 

20,000 visitors. 

The Candled team is delighted with 

deck can be used for alfresco dining, and 

additional side decks for a hot tub or 

second bathroom. 

The extra wide Tsavos offer enough 

space to manoeuvre powered wheelchairs 

and for hoist equipment. The internal 

canvas partition doors have also been 

widened to 900mm and can be made 

wider if required. 

Luxury coastal glampsite Glamping 

the Wight Way on the Isle of Wight is also 

increasing its capacity with the addition 

of two huge 12m Grand Tsavos, complete 

with the latest add-ons including bifold 

doors. www.albioncanvas.co.uk 

feedback, including this from the creative 

director of Powderham Castle, AJ Courtenay 

(Countess of Devon): “The sadness of not 

being able to allow candles following a couple 

of small fires is gone now and the room is back 

to having the look, and more importantly 

the candle lit feel, for which it was originally 

designed.” www.candled.co.uk 


Losberger De Boer UK – a Leading Provider of Event Structures 

LOSBERGER AND DE Boer Structures 

announced acquisition last year, 

creating one of the foremost global 

providers in temporary space 

solutions. In the UK the Losberger 

De Boer brand creates an extensive 

product portfolio of temporary 

structures and event solutions. 

“In recent years we have 

strengthened our partnerships 

with key clients, developed new 

innovative structures and have 

shown our capabilities to manage 

complex projects and logistics,” 

says Arnout de Hair, past CEO of 

Losberger, now CEO of Losberger 

De Boer. “I am convinced that this 

transaction is in the best interest of 

our customers, our employees and 

our shareholders.” 

De Hair succeeds Berndt Zoepffel, 

who will be stepping down and 

joining the supervisory board of 

directors this month. 

01280 846500 / sales.uk@deboer. 

com / www.losbergerdeboer.com 

THE ALBION CANVAS STRUCTURE RANGE 


INDUSTRY TALK 

GETTY IMAGES 

Dipping into 

Funding Streams 

CLA regional adviser Katy Anderson explains how to make the 

most of grant funding and boost your rural business 

THE WORLD OF funding can 

seem like a complicated maze 

of acronyms, lengthy forms and 

endless guidance, rules and 

regulations. Unfortunately there 

are quite a lot of acronyms and 

you do have to fill in a form or 

two, but coming out the other 

side successful applicants are 

given thousands of pounds of 

grant funding to support fantastic 

projects. 

Knowing where to start can be 

the trickiest part. If you’re looking 

down the diversification or rural 

tourism route then you will need 

to be looking at LEADER and 

the Growth Programme where 

funding is available to support a 

huge range of projects. Looking 

back at what has already been 

funded we have seen wedding 

venues, wakeboarding centres, 

safari lodges, glamping sites and 

B&Bs, and these are just a few 

examples of the huge range of 

successful applications. 

LEADER FUNDING 

LEADER is a scheme aimed at 

supporting micro or small rural 

businesses, farmers, foresters 

and rural community groups. The 

scheme has six priorities, including 

support for rural tourism and farm 

diversification. 

Grants start at £2,500 and can go 

up to around £170,000, although 

this does vary across the country. 

This can cover up to 40% of the 

total eligible project costs and 

primarily covers capital items such 

as equipment, building works or 

renovations. The other 60% of the 

costs must be covered by private 

match funding – for example 

through savings or loans. 

Not all areas are covered by 

LEADER funding. England has 

been split into 80 groups defined 

by the character, as opposed 

to traditional administrative 

boundaries. These groups only 

cover rural areas, and therefore if 

you are too close to a town or city 

you may be ineligible. There are 

also some, limited, areas across 

the country which are rural but 

are not covered by a group. This is 

for various, mainly administrative 

reasons, but the important thing 

is to start by checking you are 

covered by the scheme. The 

best way to do this is to call the 

Rural Payments Agency on 03000 

200 301 and go through to the 

Rural Development Programme 

department. 

Job creation is a key aspect of 

LEADER funding and you need to 

be looking to create one full time 

equivalent job (30 hours per week) 

for every £25,000-£30,000 of grant 

funding. This can however be 

split between multiple jobs, and 

include hours that you or someone 

in your family would be working in 

the business. 

LEADER is an EU grant scheme, 

however while we remain a 

member of the EU the grants 

remain open to us and our 

message is ‘go out and get it’. The 

deadline for applications varies 


INDUSTRY TALK 

THINKING OUTSIDE 

THE BOX 

You could also consider schemes to boost your tourism 

offer – for example woodland management schemes. 

There are a number of different programmes through the 

Countryside Stewardship scheme to support the creation 

and management of woodland. These schemes can help 

you to manage existing woodland for the benefit of local 

wildlife, plant new woodland across a minimum area of 

three hectares, or improve woodland as part of a wider 

environmental scheme across your land. 

The main aim of these programmes is to improve the 

woodland habitat for wildlife but it’s worth bearing in mind 

that these are multi-annual agreements that require you to 

manage the land in a certain way for 10 years or more. 

Deadlines for some of the programmes are tight – with 

some programmes closing in early February 2018, while 

other programmes have deadlines later in the year. Again 

this is an EU grant scheme and it isn’t clear if or when these 

programmes will reopen in 2019. The CLA can keep you upto-date 

and let you know when new opportunities arise. 

For smaller areas of planting, the Woodland Trust may 

be able to help. The Trust sells various tree packs but also 

offers one-off grants for planting new small woodlands. 

This can cover 60% of the cost of the trees and appropriate 

protection, and will also include advice on what species to 

plant on your site and how to manage them. 

GETTY IMAGES 

across the country, with some 

groups asking for completed 

applications by the summer of 

2018, while others are stretching 

out into the late autumn. If you are 

considering a project, but don’t 

feel you are quite at the point of 

applying for funding, it is certainly 

worth having a chat with the 

local programme manager, who 

administers your local group, to 

make sure you are on the contact 

list for news and updates. 

GROWTH PROGRAMME 

Where LEADER is administered 

at a very local level, the Growth 

Programme is administered at 

a county or multi-county level 

through the Local Enterprise 

Partnerships (LEPs). 

There are three grant funding 

schemes under the Growth 

Programme – Food Processing, 

Business Development, and 

Tourism Infrastructure. Each LEP 

will have different priorities and 

not all will have put funding into 

all three schemes so it’s worth 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Katy Anderson is 

a regional adviser 

for the CLA. The 

membership 

organisation 

represents more 

than 30,000 farmers, 

landowners and 

rural businesses 

and advises on 

planning, third 

party agreements, 

taxation and more. 

For information on 

funding avenues and 

more, visit www.cla. 

org.uk 

checking which schemes you can 

access in your local area. 

The size of the grants available 

is also determined by your local 

LEP but the minimum grant 

size you will see through the 

Growth Programme is £35,000. 

With Business Development 

and Tourism Infrastructure 

the maximum grant is around 

£170,000, however the Food 

Processing scheme can provide up 

to £1million – or even higher! 

Again this can cover 40% of your 

total eligible project costs, and 

the other 60% must be covered by 

private match funding. You cannot 

apply for both LEADER and the 

Growth Programme to help fund a 

single project. 

Finally, like LEADER, the 

Growth Programme is an EU 

grant scheme and the deadline 

for the Expression of Interest 

applications across the country is 

31 May 2018 so time is tight. The 

guidance documents, along with 

the Expression of Interest form, are 

available on the gov.uk website. 

OTHER 

CONSIDERATIONS 

If you intend to apply for 

grant funding you will 

also need to consider 

the implications of any 

planning permissions 

needed such as 

change of use, third 

party agreements and 

taxation when looking at 

diversifying. 

My advice would 

be, if you are thinking 

about setting up a new 

business, expanding 

an existing business or 

even just considering 

purchasing a new piece 

of equipment then 

have a look into the 

grant funding that is 

available. There could 

be a significant amount 

of money just waiting to 

be invested in your rural 

business. Good luck! 


INDUSTRY TALK 

GETTY IMAGES 

THE GRANTS THAT are available 

under the Rural Development 

Programme are vital in stimulating 

rural economic growth. This is the 

instrument by which Defra fulfils 

its rural development obligations 

in England, as set out by the 

European Union. 

In a sense, this programme 

brings together public funding and 

private investment in a way that 

generates increased productivity 

and creates jobs. However, as 

the UK prepares to leave the EU 

it has to find new ways to assist 

in growing the rural economy, 

ways that are both effective and 

innovative. Here, we look at the 

current grant system and explore 

how grants may look in a post- 

Brexit world. 

Out of a total budget pot of 

£3.5bn for the Rural Development 

Programme for England, some 

£3bn goes to agri-environment 

schemes. This leaves £500m to 

be spread across Countryside 

Productivity, LEADER and the 

socio-economic schemes that 

make up the Growth Programme 

within the European Structural 

and Investment Fund (ESIF). 

However, rural businesses also 

have access to other EU funds 

within ESIF through the European 

Regional Development Fund and 

GUEST COMMENT 

The CLA's senior rural business and 

economics adviser Charles Trotman 

discusses development grants in a 

pre and post Brexit world 

the European Social Fund which is 

worth a potential £6bn. 

For those rural businesses 

seeking to diversify, access to 

these funds is crucial. Whether 

it’s a farm wanting to enter the 

tourism market, or an existing 

leisure business looking to expand, 

the socio-economic grants on offer 

will make a significant difference. 

This has been recognised by Defra 

in that it has three priority areas 

for grant funding: rural tourism, 

knowledge transfer and food 

processing. 

However, there are issues 

within the present system that 

disincentivises a business from 

applying for a grant. The often 

sheer complexity of the grants 

system will act as a brake on plans 

to diversify. In addition, the lack 

of communication at central and 

local government level, between 

the Rural Payments Agency 

(RPA) and the Local Enterprise 

Partnerships (LEPs) tends to make 

this complex structure even more 

bewildering. The hope will be that, 

when the UK leaves the EU, a more 

flexible approach can be taken. 

THE MECHANICS OF THE 

EXISTING SOCIO-ECONOMIC 

GRANTS PROCESS 

Although applying for grants can 

be seen to be complex and time 

consuming, the evidence from 

previous grant recipients is that 

this money is invaluable in new 

business start-ups. So how does 

the process work? 

Firstly, all grants are competitive 

and the process is administered by 

the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) 

that is assisted by ESIF committees 

to ensure that the applications fit 

with local economic strategies. 

The minimum size of the grant 

is £35,000 with match funding of 

60% of the total cost of the project. 

So this means that the total 

project will be a minimum £87,000. 

For the socio-economic grants, 

there is a two stage application 

process. Stage 1 is the outline 

application, more commonly 

known as the “expression of 

interest”. Although this is a very 

simple two page application 

it is extremely important. By 

expressing an interest in applying 

for a grant, the business is locking 

itself into the RPA system. This is 

important for two reasons. Firstly, 

it provides Defra with a picture of 

how many applications are likely 

to be made and the interest shown 

in a particular grant scheme. 

Secondly, it shows how far the 

grants will go and how effective 

they will be. 

If an expression of interest is 

successful, the applicant will go 

onto the second stage, the full 

application. This has to show the 

business case for the grant, the 

securing of planning permission 

and how the project will achieve 

growth. 

Each grant scheme will have 

an application window. For the 

latest grants under the growth 

programme this will be the end of 


INDUSTRY TALK 

May. So if an expression of interest 

has been submitted before this 

date, the applicant will not have 

missed the deadline. The RPA will 

also carefully monitor a project 

to completion. Importantly, grant 

funds will only be released at 

certain times in the development 

of the project. Although in the past, 

the process of awarding a grant has 

been painfully slow, the RPA is now 

intending to significantly speed up 

the process, directly as a result of 

the position post Brexit. 

GRANTS POST-BREXIT 

What is interesting is that some 

businesses are already seeing 

Brexit as an opportunity to reexamine 

their operation and see 

where to expand. That’s where the 

availability of grants is important 

and even more so now as the UK 

leaves the EU. On the positive side 

the government has already said 

that rural development funds will 

be available until 2020. On the less 

positive side, these funds need to 

be, in effect, allocated to projects 

by the time the UK leaves in March 

2019, although projects themselves 

do not need to be completed until 

2020. 

What is interesting are the two 

different approaches and views of 

Defra and HM Treasury respectively 

to current EU funds. As far as Defra 

is concerned, it wants EU funds “out 

of the door” as soon as possible 

and committed before March 2019. 

As regards the Treasury, it wants to 

make sure these funds are spent in 

a way that guarantees “value for 

money”. In a sense, both statements 

have the same effect - that is, use 

the EU money now before it gets 

lost forever. 

THE LATEST SCHEMES 

Defra announced a series of new 

grant schemes last year. These 

include £120m for Countryside 

Productivity, £165m for the growth 

programme focusing on rural 

tourism, knowledge transfer and 

food processing, and £30m for rural 

broadband to be bid for by local 

broadband delivery bodies. 

To date, the level of expressions 

of interest has been positive. For 

tourism and food processing grants, 

these have reached now over 100% 

of the total available budget but 

more applicants are needed so 

that the projects that are awarded 

grants are the most productive. 

The grants schemes may be seen 

as cumbersome and bureaucratic, 

but they are still an essential 

mechanism for helping to stimulate 

private investment. Funding will 

be available for the right projects 

but the conditions imposed 

must be met. It is vital that every 

application is based on a sound 

business plan and a sound business 

case. One should also consider 

the implications of any planning 

permissions needed, change 

of use, third party agreements 

and taxation when looking at 

diversifying. The CLA can help 

advise with all of these and more, 

together of course with advice 

on all funding avenues. For more 

information please visit 

www.cla.org.uk 

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CASE STUDY 

Church Farm 

Weddings 

A charming field venue with owners that couldn’t do 

more to help their couples on their wedding days 

Kate and Will (‘Willow’) Bicknell host six to eight weddings a year 

from their farm. They work with couples to create their vision, with 

thoughtful touches and a whole lot of effort to ensure the day goes 

without a hitch, be that escorting elderly guests, timekeeping for the band or ferrying 

belongings to the campsite. We talk to Will. 

When did you start your venue 

business and what is its history? 

We started the wedding and outside 

events side of our business in 2012. 

Church Farm was a much larger 

working dairy and arable farm 

originally, though has progressively 

shrunk in size with each owner. It 

was a horticultural nursery for a 

time then was sold to the previous 

owners, a wonderful couple - Jane 

and Mick O’Cock (Brigadier O’Cock 

to give him his official title). They 

had lived here for over 30 years and 

had come to the decision to move 

to somewhere smaller and more 

manageable. Kate and I moved here 

in 2004. 

Tell us about your location and site 

We are in a charming village called 

Kington Langley, situated just 

outside the town of Chippenham, 

between Bath and Swindon. 

Although it’s a beautiful village 

surrounded by countryside we are 

only a couple of miles from junction 

17 of the M4 so it is very good for 

access - Bristol’s 30 minutes away, 

with a great airport, London is under 

two hours (under an hour by train 

from Chippenham). 

The farm is 10 acres in total so we 

are lucky to have a large main field 

we use for the marquees and main 

reception area. There are smaller 

meadows that we use for camping 

with one of the shepherds huts, 

and brides are welcome to use our 

own private garden for welcome 

drinks or speeches. We have a totally 

separate driveway for the wedding 

guests with a beautiful old cow byre 

building that we have restored to 

“THE FARM IS 

10 ACRES IN 

TOTAL SO WE 

ARE LUCKY TO 

HAVE A LARGE 

MAIN FIELD WE 

USE FOR THE 

MARQUEES 

AND MAIN 

RECEPTION 

AREA” 

house the garden machinery. It also 

has covered space with tables and 

water etc. for the florists to work in. 

The ‘Kings Meadow’ field (named 

as a horse harness buckle was 

discovered there by some metal 

detectorists emblazoned with the 

three lions of Richard the Lion Heart) 

has a central area and ‘activity areas’ 

that we mow regularly so the grass 

is lush. We leave the rest of the 

meadow to grow tall with grasses 

and wild flowers. There is a magical 

copse with a number of paths mown 

to it where many of our couples have 

a blessing. 

The Willow Meadow is about an 

acre divided into three ‘rooms’ - one 

for the rowdier guest campers, one 

for the early to bed and guests with 

children, and one with our charming 

living van (like a shepherds hut but 

better!) where the bride and groom 

may spend their wedding night. 

We have recently restored a 

second shepherds hut and are 

currently making furniture for it (and 

arguing about what colours it should 

be painted!) that will be available as 

more accommodation this season 

- although it has been used to serve 

drinks from in our garden on a 

number of occasions. 

Four years ago we planted a living 

willow temple which now is looking 

amazing and some of our brides 

have expressed interest in using it 

for a blessing. A wellness teacher is 

planning on holding classes there too. 



Being fully outdoor, the weather 

can obviously be a challenge but 

we have put down hard standing 

leading to the parking area and there 

is a separate circular drive for all the 

services and contractors to get in and 

out of the field without churning up 

the grass. 

Our biggest challenge is at the 

end of our season. We cut and bale 

the field and nowadays, as farm 

machinery is so large, we have 

trouble finding contractors with small 

enough machinery to get through our 

gates. 

What facilities for outdoor 

functions do you offer? 

We do not own our own marquee as 

we only do six to eight weddings a 

year and felt that it wasn’t practical. 

Also every wedding has a different 

feel and look so we have a short list 

of recommended suppliers - one for 

tipis, one for traditional rope and pole 

etc. The same goes for caterers and 

bands as everyone wants something 

different so we let couples make 

their own choices. We prefer them to 

choose from our list as they are tried, 

tested and trusted companies. 

We have the Willow Meadow for the 

camping and the two vans/huts for 

more comfortable accommodation. 

There is also a cottage on the farm to 

rent, which most couples take from 

the Wednesday or Thursday before 

their wedding to use as a base, to get 

changed in, and then finally usually 

end up leaving their parents in on the 

final clear up day on Sunday. 

We have a deep freeze in the cow 

byre for ice and also a very large 

fridge for chilling the drinks ready 

for the wedding day. We run the 

bottles etc. down to the marquee on 

the morning of the big event rather 

than risk leaving them in a marquee 

overnight in the middle of a field! We 

now have three phase power in the 

field which means we don’t need a 

generator - much more cost effective 

and quiet! We do have a back up 

generator however for power cuts 

although we haven’t had any to 

date. 

Living in a village we are very 

conscious of disturbing our 

neighbours so we now employ 

a wonderful sound engineer to 

set up some specialist speaker 

equipment that not only limits 

the level of sound but is also very 

directional, so while the music is 

loud on the dance floor you can still 

hear yourself think (and speak) on 

the surrounding tables. This keeps 

the older generation, the council 

environmental officer and our 

neighbours happy! 

What services do you offer? 

Although we technically are just 

providing the venue, so that 

whoever hires it can pretty much 

do whatever they like to it, we 

do help with the logistics and 

coordination of the various other 

people providing services. We take 

delivery of the booze, store props 

and furniture, and run things back 

and forth from the cottage or cow 

byre to the field, marquee, copse or 

camping area. 

We have a number of garden 

games and are adding larger, more 

‘fair ground’ type games this year. 

There are always two or more of 

us on site during the set up, on the 

day and during the breakdown and 

clear up. We marshal the parking 

and direct guests off the main road 

into the private drive and down to 

the parking. We provide, fill up and 

light the fire pits and continue to 

top them up throughout the event. 

We also provide and put up signs to 

loos, camping and parking etc. 

“PEOPLE 

COME TO US 

BECAUSE 

THEY CAN PUT 

UP WHATEVER 

THEY LIKE SO 

WE’VE HAD 

EVERYTHING 

FROM TIPIS TO 

BIG TOPS” 

The Willow Meadow is ideal for 

pitching tents and we have had up 

to 35 in that one space. We help 

drive the campers' luggage from the 

car park across to the campsite in 

our John Deere Gator, a sort of all 

terrain vehicle with a brilliant tipping 

load area in the back. It’s also used 

to ferry the more elderly or infirm 

from the car park to the copse for 

blessings, and Kate uses it on the 

Sunday morning to deliver and 

serve her wonderful fresh coffee and 

pastries to the hungover guests! 

The complete service we offer is 

so varied - whether the problem is 

missing hairspray, toppling wedding 

cakes, forgotten corkscrews, 

migraines or flat batteries in 

cameras, Kate and I will do our 

utmost to solve it. 

Describe how you researched and 

sourced your structures 

We started the business encouraged 

by a friend who had a vintage 

marquee company and wanted to 

photograph her marquee in our 

field. We used her marquees for 

a few weddings but really people 

come to us because they can put 

up whatever they like so we’ve had 

everything from tipis to big tops. 

Having been doing this for six 

years now we have a few suppliers 

that we recommend as they do all 

that they promise they will and are 

good, reliable people to work with. 

We have planted a wonderful 



willow temple and 100 metres worth 

of willow tunnels for the children to 

play in. This is harvested annually 

to provide material for the creative 

courses we also organise on the 

farm. 

How do you work with your 

customers to make their event 

unique? 

Every event at Church Farm seems 

to be totally different - we really do 

offer our clients a blank canvas to 

do whatever they would like, our 

only restriction is that music finishes 

by 11.30pm. Other than that we 

are very flexible; you can even start 

setting up as early as Wednesday so 

there’s plenty of time for a couple to 

decorate or build their vision. The 

last wedding we had was like a mini 

Glastonbury with lights on poles and 

flags, fires etc. You name it they had 

it, and they really did need the three 

days to set up - not many venues 

give their guests so much flexibility 

and freedom. 

How do you publicise yourself? 

Mainly through our website 

and social media - Instagram, 

Pinterest and Facebook. We are 

also registered with two wedding 

websites. 

How would you describe your 

‘style’ or unique selling point? 

Kate and I are as much of our USP 

as anything, though we can’t take 

all the credit as everybody involved 

goes towards making Church Farm a 

“IT TOOK 

THREE HOURS 

JUST TO GET 

THE LOO 

TRAILER IN 

PLACE AS WE 

HAD TO MOVE 

IT ON SHEETS 

OF PLYWOOD 

LIKE ANCIENT 

EGYPTIANS 

MOVING A 

LARGE ROCK! ” 

beautiful, magical, calm, fun place to 

be. We are relaxed and welcoming, 

but also efficient, professional, well 

organised and have a huge attention 

to detail. We have a “no problem/ 

can do” attitude and if you can’t find 

it, we will! 

The fact that the farm is a blank 

canvas for people to do exactly as 

they want to (within the bounds of 

decency!) is also very unusual. The 

grounds are well cared for but still 

with lots of wild, natural elements, 

and we have a strong environmental 

and ecological ethos behind 

what we do, with recycling and 

sustainability high on the list. 

What challenges have you faced? 

The main challenge is weather, or 

at least the problems it creates. Our 

first wedding was in October 2012 

and it had rained non stop for weeks. 

At that stage we didn’t have any 

hard standing or a separate drive for 

vehicles so we had to bring all the 

marquee lorries and caterers a very 

long way around the field to prevent 

the main reception area from 

getting turned into a scene from the 

Somme! It took three hours just to 

get the loo trailer in place as we had 

to move it on sheets of plywood like 

ancient Egyptians moving a large 

rock! We decided to bite the bullet 

and pay for the circular drive we 

have now and there hasn’t been a 

problem since. 

When we started we were also 

trying to help couples save money 

and learned that not having some 

things done properly was just false 

economy. For example, one couple’s 

catering tent (their own cheap one 

from B&Q) blew away as they didn’t 

want to pay for a company to put 

one up; we ended up putting up our 

own one to save the day but now we 

know better. 

Describe your average day midseason 

No day is average - it’s all down to 

the couple and how organised they 

are - but basically on a wedding day 

it goes like this: 

› 6-7am - up and out to open gates 

and check the signs are out. 

Hang the Church Farm wedding 

sign above the gate and private 

drive. Set/check the electrics and 

supplies for the band and caterer 

etc. 

› 8-10am - help move anything out 

of the marquee into the games or 

blessing area. Direct the loo trailer 

etc. 

› 11-12pm - deliver drinks etc. to 

the marquee for the caterer. Take 

delivery of the last gifts, flowers, 

wedding cake etc. Take camping 

guests’ tents etc. to the Willow 

Meadow 

› 12-1pm - help set up the sound 

system/lights/band 



› 1-2pm - depending on the actual 

wedding time, three of us with 

walks talkies direct guests into 

the private drive and down to the 

parking, and help elderly guests to 

the copse or garden 

› 3-4pm - on call for anything - 

issues with power, first aid, bored 

children etc. 

› 5-6pm - check sound volumes for 

speeches and band, professional 

sound check if needed. Fill fire pits 

and lighting depending on time of 

year 

› 7-9pm - check and fill up fire pits, 

put out fairy lights and lanterns to 

guide people to the car park 

› 9-11.30pm - remind the band that 

they’ve got to stop at 11.30pm 

and need to play the last dance 

› 12-2am - help guests leave by 

torch or walk them (depending 

what state they’re in!), help with 

taxis, car parking, caterers and 

band dismantling and leaving 

› 2am - final walk round, clearing 

marquee of anything valuable 

that’s been left behind, check the 

campsite, close and lock gates etc. 

› Then a very early start the next 

day for Kate to make breakfast for 

campers. 

What do you enjoy about the 

business? 

It’s hard work but we enjoy it, only 

doing six to eight weddings a year 

means they are all special to us - if 

we did them every weekend it would 

lose its charm! It also provides us 

with enough income to justify the 

upkeep; it has meant we could 

afford to landscape the front garden, 

work on the woodland and buy the 

tools and equipment to make the 

work easier. It’s also bought the 

shepherds huts and paid to restore 

the cottage and other outbuildings. 

What other outdoor hospitality 

sectors do you operate in? 

We do offer the camping side, in 

tents or the huts, but mainly when 

it’s during a wedding. We hope 

to do more independent of the 

weddings but both Kate and I have 

full time jobs doing other things so 

it’s difficult enough doing just the 

events we do at the moment. 

We plan to do more corporate 

type events during the day for 

smaller parties; something creative 

and gentle - more art, cookery, 

yoga and wellness than clay pigeon 

shooting and quad bikes! 

“IF A JOB’S 

WORTH 

DOING, IT’S 

WORTH 

DOING PROP- 

ERLY. THAT 

DOESN'T 

MEAN IT HAS 

TO BE EX- 

PENSIVE OR 

ELABORATE, 

JUST WITH 

CARE AND 

PROFESSION- 

ALISM - KEEP 

IT SIMPLE 

AND GOOD 

QUALITY.” 

ADDRESS BOOK 

What advice could you give 

to someone coming into the 

industry? 

Don’t be desperate to try and do 

something completely different - 

most things have been tried before 

by someone so being totally 

original is quite tricky. Whatever 

you decide to do, do it well. It’s 

the old adage of: “If a job’s worth 

doing, it’s worth doing properly”. 

That doesn't mean it has to be 

expensive or elaborate, just with 

care and professionalism - keep it 

simple and good quality. 

Find a good reliable team of staff 

or suppliers - people as dedicated 

as you are in delivering a brilliant 

service or product. Don’t make 

your self indispensable - ensure 

there are other people who can do 

your job if you are taken ill or can’t 

be on site for whatever reason. 

Deal with any issues quickly and 

efficiently, don't point blame or 

complain (at least not until after 

the event), just sort it out and let 

your clients enjoy themselves. 

What are your plans for next 

season? 

We have changed the layout slightly 

where we mow the paths and have 

made them slightly wider. They 

might not be quite so romantic as 

narrow tracks through the long 

grass, but it is definitely more 

practical once the guests have a had 

a few drinks and are trying to find 

their way back to their tent, the loo 

or a taxi waiting for them! 

We’re making more garden games 

and also clearing an area in a strip 

of woodland, laying hedges and 

creating areas for smaller events or 

activities as we hope to be doing 

more corporate days here during the 

week. 

What are you most proud of? 

Creating and building on what 

was already a beautiful home and 

being able to share that with our 

clients, guests and visitors; helping 

people have a truly magical and 

wonderful day or event; helping 

create amazing happy memories. We 

are also providing more and more 

habitats for wildlife with bat boxes, 

owl boxes, wild flower meadows, a 

small stream, piles of logs, and laid 

hedges. Consequently we see an 

abundance of bats, foxes, badgers, 

rabbits, hedgehogs, snakes (only 

grass snakes but that’s a good sign 

of a well kept, fertile environment), 

newts, frogs; the list is ever 

expanding. 

MARQUEES 

Archers Marquees 

www.archersmarquees.co.uk 

Big Top Mania 

www.bigtopmania.co.uk 

County Marquees 

www.countymarquees.co.uk 

Honeycomb Marquees 

www.honeycombmarquees.co.uk 

Papakata www.papakata.co.uk 

The Stunning Tent Co 

www.stunningtents.co.uk 

POWER 

We have our own three phase 

power and a generator in case 

of power failure 

SOUND 

Serenity Audio 

www.serenityaudio.co.uk 

TOILETS 

The Royal Flush 

www.theroyalflush.org 

DIRECTORY SITES 

For Better For Worse 

www.forbetterforworse.co.uk 

Natural Wedding Company 

www.thenaturalwedding 

company.co.uk 

INSURANCE 

NFU Mutual 

www.nfumutual.co.uk 

DETAILS 

Church Farm 

Kington Langley 

Chippenham 

Wiltshire, SN15 5NN 

01249 758444 

www.churchfarmuk.co.uk 


World leading brands and products 

+44 (0)1902 790 824 

morrismachinery.co.uk


Hosting 

Keeping all your wedding guests happy – how your 

venue can best host children with Kelly Chandler 



GETTY IMAGES 

GETTY IMAGES 

TODAY’S WEDDING MORE than 

ever is likely to be a true family 

affair and by that we’re talking 

a greater likelihood that the 

bridal couples themselves, or 

certainly some of their closest 

friends, siblings and bridal party 

will have young children. Bearing 

in mind that the average age of 

couples marrying is now 30.8, and 

increases slightly annually, and 

the fact that the largest proportion 

of couples have been an item for 

more than five years, many more 

wedding celebrations are now 

focused on relaxed, family friendly 

fun. 

As an ambitious wedding 

hosting venue looking to get ahead 

and beat the competition you 

need to look at how you provide 

for children so that you’ve got a 

solution before you’re asked, and 

right from your early marketing. 

Bear in mind that your couples 

with their own young children are 

likely to have very busy schedules 

and a lot of demands so the more 

you can help them with preconsidered 

ideas the better. This 

applies equally to those couples 

who don't have their own children 

but know they need to make 

plans for their young guests and 

can often feel overwhelmed and 

inexperienced in not knowing 

what the options are. 

Today’s feature is brought to 

you in partnership with Stephanie 

Wallis, childcare expert and owner/ 

founder of Safe & Sound Events, 

who is the go-to provider for many 

an independent wedding planner 

(myself included) seeking the most 

professional, varied, creative and 

safe childcare solution for their 

clients’ weddings. 

THE VENUE “STANDARD” 

Lack of facilities and activities 

involving a few crayons and paper 

alongside some games bought 

from the local store just don’t 

cut it for the modern wedding, 

but it’s sadly what’s on offer still 

at many events. If this sounds 

familiar then I’m afraid you (and/ 

or your couples) are likely to find 

the little ones running amok 

causing mayhem and ultimately 

spoiling the event for everyone, 

staff included, through no fault 

of their own. A higher standard of 

provision is a must! 

It’s worth your venue looking 

at your terms and conditions also 

as literally ‘left holding the baby’ 

is something you are not insured 

for, neither is an entertainer 

solely in charge of the children 

or the obligatory bouncy castle 

sufficient. Bear in mind too that 

an entertainer/bouncy castle 

might provide up to two hours' 

entertainment, which is great for 

a typical kid's birthday party but 

nowhere near long enough for a 10 

hour wedding day! 

TO GET IT RIGHT 

HERE ARE OUR TOP 

TIPS FOR VENUES: 

1 SPACE 

So often enough space 

for children to play is just 

not considered. With crèche 

supervision, children often move 

areas during a wedding to utilise 

the best spaces for the numbers as 

the wedding progresses through 

the schedule. This gives great 

variety for the kids, gets them out 

and about in the fresh air (always 

good for sleeping later on!) and 

enjoying the venue and all its 

spaces under safe supervision 

while being sensitive to the goingson 

and schedule of the main 

wedding celebration. Make sure 

to think about key spaces that are 

child friendly. 

2 HIGHCHAIRS 

AND SEATING 

Highchairs are often provided by 

venues but are not necessarily 

the best style and may be missing 

straps. This is a real health and 

safety issue. Style is often chosen 

for the look rather than for the 

practicality, and many highchairs 

are only suitable for children 

who can sit upright. There are 

styles of booster seats to consider 

which offer a better alternative 

for varying ages of babies and 

toddlers. Just as you consider the 

style of the chair for your adult 

guests, the same consideration 

should happen for their children. 



3 TABLEWARE 

Standard cutlery is usually 

of the size to be able to perform 

a tonsillectomy on the average 

small child! They really don’t need 

the full setting of an adult - we 

appreciate that it makes the table 

look lovely, all matching, but what 

do the parents do with a mountain 

of items they can’t use? There 

are some lovely sets of metal 

children’s cutlery available and 

plastic cutlery can always be laid 

out after the photographer has 

taken all the shots or handed over 

to the parents once seated. Long 

stemmed glasses are not required 

either! 

Invest or ask your caterer to 

provide plastic cups for the kids – 

there are some beautiful designs 

for children and it’s a lovely 

gesture to put some effort into 

colourful pretty items. If children 

are invited to a wedding they 

are important guests, and while 

their needs are different, this is a 

chance to treat them just as well, 

with thought put into their table 

just as effort is put into flowers 

and so on for the adults’ tables. 

FEEDING THE 

4 LITTLE ONES 

Food for children; chicken goujons 

and chips is so outdated, tomato 

pasta is not great for beautiful 

wedding clothes... This area 

really needs updating and to be 

put together with the chef. Many 

children have a well-educated 

pallet and are rarely brought up on 

the outdated idea of ‘traditional 

GETTY IMAGES 

children’s food’. Having said that, 

chips are always a hit as they are 

often a real treat! 

The size of the portions in line 

with costs needs to be updated 

too. The average two year old 

eats at least half that of a 10 year 

old but usually all children are 

classified as one. It’s worth having 

at least two different portion 

sizes for the age range, with the 

appropriate costs attached. 

THE FUN STUFF 

5If your venue is offering toys 

and games they need to be well 

maintained, compliant with all the 

various regulations and actually 

worth playing with. As mentioned 

previously, colouring is just not 

enough! Bear in mind that a 

wedding day can typically run 

from 2pm to midnight, which is a 

lot of time to fill and variety is key. 

GETTY IMAGES 

ABOUT THE 

AUTHOR 

Kelly Chandler is a 

long-term preferred 

service provider for 

exclusive venues 

such as Syon Park, 

Highclere Castle, 

Spencer House and 

Stoke Park Club. 

Kelly’s consulting 

services to wedding 

venues draw on 

prior experience 

in international 

conference and 

event planning, over 

13 years of business 

management, and 

working directly with 

discerning couples 

planning their 

weddings in diverse 

locations and 

forging successful 

relationships with all 

components of the 

wedding industry. 

A former director 

of trade body, the 

Alliance of Wedding 

Planners, Kelly is 

a well-regarded 

innovator, mentor, 

trainer and industry 

spokesperson on 

and in the wedding 

business. 

www. kellychandler 

consulting.co.uk 

6 SLEEPTIME 

It’s the evening in particular 

when an outside childcare 

specialist can really make all the 

difference. From 7pm onwards little 

ones are usually heading for bed, 

so what can be done in a wedding 

environment? Historically parents 

would leave the party early or carry 

on but with unhappy exhausted 

children. How much better for there 

to be a supervised “film night” zone 

with comfy bean bags and a DVD for 

the older ones to watch and floor 

mattresses and sleeping bags for 

the little ones to drop off to sleep 

until parents are ready to leave the 

party – everyone is happy this way, 

and most importantly, safe. 

7 PROFESSIONAL 

HELP 

The biggest key to a smoothrunning 

event with children 

is actually the professional 

supervision of the children and not 

just the provision of a child size 

meal or highchairs. If the children 

are occupied and made a greater 

part of the event, then everyone will 

be happy! 

And all the wedding surveys 

on current wedding customer 

behavior indicate that comfort, 

looking after one’s guests and being 

great hosts are very high up the 

modern couple’s wedding needs 

agenda. How proactive is your 

venue in suggesting entertainment 

and childcare for your clients’ 

weddings? 

Most of the time young couples 

without children do not have an 

understanding of the complexities 

of what’s required so do need a lot 

of advice and guidance as to the 

right provision for them. As an event 

childcare company, Safe & Sound 

Events offers the perfect solution 

to not only consult with venues, 

enabling them to offer a higher 

standard of service, but to also 

remove any logistical nightmares 

when inviting children to events. 

MORE INFORMATION 

For more information on 

event childcare and Safe & 

Sound Events, do contact 

Stephanie on stephanie@ 

safeandsoundevents.com and 

www.safeandsoundevents.com 


7 & 8 

NOV 2018 

NEC 

BIRMINGHAM 

COUNTRY HOUSE 

BUSINESS INNOVATION 2018 

INSPIRING RURAL ENTREPRENEURS 

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RUNNING WITH: 

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Brands 

Go 

Outdoors 

Alistair Turner 

explains why 

'business' wants 

to party and meet 

customers in the 

open air 

COMPANIES ARE GOING 

outside more and more these 

days. As they look to grow 

their businesses, promote their 

products and services, and 

incentivise their customers and 

staff, they are choosing outdoor 

experiences instead of traditional 

indoor formats. Why? 

It’s important to understand 

this fundamental question, 

because behind it lies a massive 

business opportunity, but one 

that has a very clear ‘handle with 

care’ sign on it. To understand it 

is to appreciate it and get ready 

for it. It’s not traditional events 

business, but it can be highly 

lucrative, repeat business. 

It also comes with a language 

of its own; events turn into 

experiences, people turn into 

consumers, VIPs to stakeholders, 

talking becomes interaction 

or engagement, and fun is 

gamification or engagement. It’s 

time to learn a new language, it’s 

called ‘brand speak’, it’s used by 

your future customers, so let’s get 

started… with this article! 

REMOTE RELATIONSHIPS 

You may have noticed that 

major brands are a little more 

well, techy these days. The 

top companies on the planet 

sell social networks, screen 



TIMEBASED EVENTS WWW.TIMEBASED.CO.UK 

time, mobile technology 

or information. They are a 

new breed and they behave 

differently. The reality is a 

business can have a relationship 

with a customer without ever 

having a physical interaction. 

Take amazon, you can spend 

an hour on the website, buy a 

product, get it sent, receive and 

wear it, without ever speaking to 

anyone from the business. This 

is great for the consumer, but 

scary to the brand. 

Research increasingly points 

towards a diminishing of loyalty 

between consumers (people) 

and brands (companies), and 

it’s this lack of interaction that 

lies at the heart of it. Brands 

want relationships as much as 

anyone, and the only way they 

can have them in a digital age is 

though events. 

This is evidenced by the 

major spenders in events in 

2017; Google, LinkedIn, Twitter 

and Facebook have all put 

major investments into either 

sponsoring events or holding 

their own. They want to go out 

and meet their customers, shake 

their hands and show them 

a friendly face. Face to face is 

critical to them and it’s flying 

up their sales, marketing and 

business agendas. 

GETTY IMAGES 

ABOVE: The TalkTalk 

Great Getaway one 

day festival for staff 

held at Ragley Hall 

“EVERY DAY 

THE EVENTS 

INDUSTRY 

IS SEEING 

BIGGER 

PRODUCTION, 

BIGGER IN- 

VESTMENTS, 

AND MORE 

AMBITIOUS 

ACTIVATION 

OF OUTDOOR 

EVENTS, 

FROM 

BRANDS” 

COMING TOGETHER 

If it’s important externally, 

it’s equally so internally. 

Increasingly work forces 

are fragmenting, the big 

office block with a 9-5 

work force is eroding 

and leaving a collective 

of micro departments, 

working alone, remotely 

and linked together by 

digital networks. None 

more so than major tech 

and social companies, but 

this isn’t just about them, 

banks and building societies 

are just as likely to have a remote 

work force as anyone else. 

Again, while social networks 

and modern working practices 

fail, the events industry picks up. 

Teams need to meet on a regular 

basis, but they also need to come 

together en masse, they need to 

be incentivised and rewarded; and 

this isn’t just a Christmas party, it’s 

gone way further than that. 

Imagine a fun fair, built from 

scratch in a field, a stage with 

comic and music acts, picnic 

areas, bars and food stalls. 

All expenses are paid and the 

experience isn’t just an afternoon, 

it’s a weekend. Production is high 

because the brand understands 

that to motivate someone you 

have to do more than give them a 

gift, you have to leave them with 

a memory. An incentivised work 

GETTY IMAGES 

force is highly profitable, a happy 

client and customer base equally 

so. Brands have event managers 

with the specific objective of 

creating en masse feel good 

factors and they see the value and 

the return on big investments. 

WHY OUTDOORS? 

So why outdoors? The simple 

reality is that brands started all 

this indoors - magnificent set piece 

Christmas parties, hospitality, 

high production conferences, 

exhibitions and expos. This is 

where the industry gained its 

confidence, but now it’s looking 

at other forms of fun that its 

customers, stakeholders and 



clients are having, and it wants 

to replicate them. Brands also 

want to align themselves with 

great experiences. Send clients to 

Bestival, or create your own? Have 

a Christmas Party in a luxury hotel, 

or a summer party in a field, as a 

festival, with entertainment for 

families as well as employees? 

Every day the events industry is 

seeing bigger production, bigger 

investments, and more ambitious 

activation of outdoor events, from 

brands. They call this experiential 

- the act of creating memorable 

experiences to create loyalty and 

understanding between a brand, 

its public and its staff. 

There is also a huge amount 

of one-upmanship. This is a 

competitive world and brands 

know that customers have a 

choice in the same way employees 

do; events are increasingly an 

investment in loyalty. 

A PIECE OF THE ACTION 

So how can outdoor venues take 

advantage of this trend? First and 

foremost, it’s about understanding 

that there is a market and going 

to find it. Many of these brands 

use production agencies and 

experiential event companies, so 

it is well worth getting to know 

them, and talking to them about 

their client list. 

Equally, going direct is 

increasingly an option as more and 

more companies up-weight their 

events departments. It’s worth 

remembering that it’s not just 

about targeting event managers, 

but marketing and brand 

managers as well; the budgets are 

shifting from the CEO’s Christmas 

party fund to the event manager’s 

12-month customer and internal 

engagement programme. 

Before any of that though, it’s 

worth reconsidering the product 

you offer to the corporate market. 

Its ambition and investment in 

events is strong, but they also 

demand the very best service, and 

they need professional suppliers 

for their events. It doesn’t matter 

how good the space is, if the 

service isn’t there they will lose 

confidence and go somewhere 

else. As ever in events, this is about 

the detail, knowing your ‘product’, 

having a close understanding 

of capacities, safety guidance, 

access, local amenities, everything 


Alistair Turner is 

founder of EIGHT 

PR & Marketing, an 

agency working 

solely in the events 

industry. As well as 

working directly with 

government, he is 

special advisor to the 

National Outdoor 

Events Association 

and past-president of 

the International Live 

Events Association. 

www.eightpr.co.uk 

from where power can be got, to 

local hotels and accommodation. 

The event organiser will make you 

a partner in the event and they 

will need to know that you know 

these things. They will see you as 

infrastructure and just like every 

other venue, caterer, production 

company etc. will need you to 

know your product inside out. 

If you’re on top of all of this 

then you are officially ‘open for 

business’ and you’ll need to 

get the word out. Every event 

producer loves new areas, venues 

and destinations, so target the 

early trend setters first. Create a 

compelling proposition for the 

market, and sell the emotion as 

well as the infrastructure; the 

sizzle as well as the sausage so to 

speak. 

There are social and digital 

networks where these guys can 

be found, and of course industry 

media can be incredibly influential 

in these areas. But these are 

increasingly digital beings and 

they sit at desks in front of 

computers, so look at search, 

SEO, digital communications, PR 

and marketing, with people that 

know these businesses and where 

to find them. The main message 

is that you’re open for business, 

you want their event and you’re 

ready to give them the service they 

deserve. 

Finally, it’s important to learn 

the language of the new event 

organiser of 2018. They have 

evolved from organisational 

beings to marketing people. 

They care about logistics, detail, 

infrastructure and operationals, 

but they also talk the language of 

brands, engagement, experiential, 

internal communication and 

return on investment. 

There is value in this. A brand 

that can create an experience for 

their customer can create loyalty, 

memory and goodwill, a major 

commodity in good business. From 

a staff and customer perspective, 

the same is true. Increasingly 

companies are talking about 

talent, innovation, creativity and 

other people-led values. They 

need to find the best, and they 

need to keep the best; these 

events are their shop window to 

their staff, to show they care. 

More and more businesses and 

brands are seeing the value return 

in events, and they are looking to 

create wider and more interesting 

experiences. Their ambition is 

not limited by the venue options 

in front of them. They will build 

temporary structures in places of 

beauty, they will build stages for 

entertainment, funfairs for family, 

and festivals for everyone. When 

they do it, they do it properly, 

because they understand the 

negative effects of a bad event 

as much as the positive ones of a 

good event. 

So take a look at this market, do 

your due diligence and it could be 

the start of an excellent business. 

Trust in supplier is still sacred in 

business; if you show yourself 

trustworthy, this is an audience 

for you. 

TIMEBASED EVENTS WWW.TIMEBASED.CO.UK 


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OAB 

LOVES… 

POPUP 

ACCOMMODATION 

WE LOVE… 

The portable Shower Shack from the 

English Shepherds Hut Company 

WHY? 

Imagine if your guests could have 

a hot shower, no matter where you 

decide to put your pop up glamping 

accommodation? The Shower Shack 

provides just that, even if the site is 

miles away from running water! 

The units can be assembled and 

taken down quickly by one person and 

are easy to transport. They are available 

to hire or buy, making them ideal for 

outdoor weddings, parties and festivals 

as well as sporting events. 

FROM 

The English Shepherds Hut Company 

01603 397777 

www.showershacks.co.uk 

WE LOVE... 

Powerpack 300+ from Portable 

Power Technology 

WHY? 

Compact, lightweight 

and quiet, this all in one 

powerpack delivers AC and 

DC power to the remotest 

of pop up glampsites. 

Charge it from the mains or up to 350W of 

solar (solar panel kits sold separately). There are USB ports 

for mobile charging and powering devices and an integral super 

bright 2W LED lamp. 

Examples of appliances that can be powered from the 300+ 

include TVs, music systems, CCTV cameras, games consoles, small 

fridges, fans, lights, phones and tablets. 

FROM 

Portable Power Technology 

01474 761051 

www.portablepowertech.com 

WE LOVE… 

The Kora mini safari Tent from 

Boldscan’s Albion Canvas range 

WHY? 

For pop up ‘hotels’ and festivals, 

we love this easy build mini version 

of the classic safari tent. The 

Kora sleeps two and comes in a 

choice of muted colours, ranging 

from light sand to olive. The tent 

is manufactured in Boldscan’s 

Somerset factory from heavy 

duty 415gsm polycotton canvas, 

which is fire retardant and water 

and mildew resistant. The price 

includes a 650gsm PVC walled 

ground sheet and sectioned timber 

poles. 

FROM 

Boldscan 

01823 665849 

www.albioncanvas.co.uk 

GETTY IMAGES 


WE LOVE… 

Pop-up canvas accommodation from 

Portobello Tents 

WHY? 

This pop-up glamping provider offers 5m 

bell tents at three tiers of luxury, and an 

exclusive Lotus Belle tent package complete 

with windows, LED chandelier, flowers and 

more. 

New to its luxury accommodation line up 

is the incredible Lotus Mahal. Offering 60m2 

of floor space – that’s larger than the average 

London flat – it can be sub divided into 

rooms or left open. Not only does it come 

fully-furnished but it has been styled by 

interior designer @maudiecollections whose 

furnishings create a truly unique aesthetic. 

Exclusive to Portobello Tents, you won’t 

find this structure with any other pop-up 

glamping provider. 

So, whether it’s a wedding, corporate 

event, private party or festival, give 

Portobello a call and plan your luxury open 

air accommodation! 

FROM 


020 7993 8018 

www.portobellotents.com 

S2T GRASS 

REINFORCEMENT 

PERFO 

interlocking tiles - effective 

protection for soft ground 

Ideal for the reinforcement of 

parking areas, access tracks, 

pitches etc. at: 

- camping & glamping sites 

- open air event venues 

- country & leisure parks 

Tel. 01992 522797 

www.perfo.co.uk 


Opportunity 

awaits at 

3 days dedicated to the Glamping 

industry for existing and 

potential operators 

Suppliers showcasing 

everything needed 

for a successful 

glamping business 

A wealth of expert 

information and 

networking 

opportunities 

Thursday 20 

- Saturday 22 

September 2018 

NAEC, 

STONELEIGH 

PARK 

To exhibit contact Dan Wiseman: 

dan.w@theglampingshow.com 

07958 030785 

The Glamping Show 

@theglampingshow 

theglampingshow 

www.theglampingshow.com

GLAMPSITES 

CASE STUDY 

Wild Luxury 

An independently owned glamping 

business that can sleep up to 120 

people at capacity over three sites 

After giving himself 12 months to come up with a 

business idea, Jonathan Barber became one of the 

pioneers of the British glamping holiday scene, turning over £60,000 in one 

week! Here he shares how he got up and running in double quick time. 


The Answer to the 

Off-Grid Question 

Boutique Outdoor 

Showers & Toilets 

www.showershacks.co.uk 

info@showershacks.co.uk 


GLAMPSITES 

What’s your back story – your 

life before glamping? 

I was a group marketing director 

in the education travel sector 

promoting 11 educational 

adventure centres throughout the 

UK. After the company was sold to 

private equity I decided to leave 

the rat race and look for a new 

idea. 

What made you decide to 

start offering glamping 

accommodation? 

After 12 months I had five ideas 

for a new venture. Glamping 

appeared to be the least rubbish 

“THIS WAS A 

PLACE WHERE 

WE HAD WILD 

CAMPED AS A 

COUPLE AND 

LATER WITH A 

YOUNG FAMILY. 

IT IS REALLY 

QUIET, REALLY 

BEAUTIFUL, 

HAS LOTS OF 

WILDLIFE AND 

THE BIGGEST 

SKIES IN 

ENGLAND” 

idea of them all. We applied for 

planning in November 2010, and 

achieved it on 27 February 2011. 

We opened on the day of the royal 

wedding - 29 April 2011. It was 

quite hectic! 

How did you research the 

business before entering it? 

We took the kids on a glamping 

holiday and then designed a lodge 

that overcame all the things that 

my wife didn’t enjoy about the 

stay, particularly the kitchen and 

bathroom arrangements. 

What was your vision? 

Our vision really came from 

first of all looking back a couple 

of generations before looking 

forward. We had a young family 

who we used to take wild 

camping in a bell tent so we 

really understood the benefits of 

unplugging from the world and 

often reconnecting with each 

other. 

The hassle of moving a family 

thousands of miles for a summer 

escape often destroys the benefits 

of getting away together before 

you have got there. We set out to 

create a holiday experience that 

was easily accessible, had a spirit 

of adventure and provided a level 

of comfort that meant even the 

most ardent non-campers would 

still want to be included. 

We found sites that made you 

feel you had really escaped from 

the world. It was very important 

that you couldn’t see any light 


GLAMPSITES 

from buildings at night and there 

was a dawn bird chorus. It was 

also essential that there was loads 

to do and discover right on the 

doorstep. Our camps are close to 

the coast, which is nature's biggest 

playground. 

We have produced holiday 

packs that encouraged friends and 

families to cook recipes on open 

fires, play crazy games, fly kites, 

cuddle a lamb, build a den and 

talk around the campfire. 

Within months we had so much 

PR about this 'new' type of holiday 

- the type we hoped we would 

have when we were youngsters. 

The challenge moving forward is to 

continually nudge up the offering 

without losing the ethos of still 

escaping from the modern world 

rather than just encapsulating it 

in a tent. If that happens then the 

magic of these holidays will be 

lost. 

Tell us about your location and 

site 

Our first site was Pigeon Wood 

in Sedgeford, about two miles 

away from our home on the north 

Norfolk coast. This was a place 

where we had wild camped as 

a couple and later with a young 

family. It is really quiet, really 

beautiful, has lots of wildlife and 

the biggest skies in England. We 

started with five 'Serengeti' lodges. 

It also benefits from being a short 

drive from fantastic beaches, pubs 

and great days out. 

In 2012 we opened a second 

site three miles from Pigeon Wood 

at Thornham. We have eight 

Serengeti lodges here and you can 

“THE PIGEON 

WOOD SITE 

WAS VERY 

EXPOSED 

SO WE ONLY 

WANTED TO 

OPERATE 

FROM 

MARCH TO 

NOVEMBER, 

AND THIS 

WAS ALSO A 

PLANNING 

RESTRICTION” 

walk to the beach. 

In 2014 We introduced two 

‘Zambezi’ lodges at Sedgeford and 

a Top Camp at Thornham. 

In 2015 we opened a summer 

only ‘Wild Camp’ which is a little 

roll-on roll-off luxury camp with 

bell tents for groups. 

of up to 12. 

How did you tackle getting 

planning? 

The parish council objected 

initially so I had to go and plead 

my case to the borough planning 

committee. They were very 

supportive but as glamping was so 

new I’m not sure if they were very 

sure what they were agreeing to! 

How did you finance the project? 

Bank loans. 

What glamping accommodation 

do you offer and why did you 

choose it? 

All our permanent accommodation 

is in the form of safari lodges. 

We really liked the fact that they 

can be divided up into different 

rooms, it is also easier to include 

bathrooms at the rear of the 

lodges. We have two types - the 

Serengeti lodges sleep up to six, 

and the much larger Zambezi 

lodges sleep up to 10. 

The Pigeon Wood site was very 

exposed so we only wanted to 

operate from March to November, 

and this was also a planning 

restriction. In 2016 we modified 

the lodges to include a hard 

wooden front with stable doors to 

make them more cosy when the 

wind blew. 

How did you work out your 

brand and how do you publicise 

yourself? 

We wanted to include in our brand 

the idea of a holiday that was 

a bit of an adventure as well as 

being really comfortable. Our Wild 


Commercial quality shepherd huts 

for the glamping industry 

Call us for more details on: 01433 747777 

www.brosterfieldshepherdhuts.co.uk 


GLAMPSITES 

Luxury logo includes the strap line 

‘Make Life an Adventure’. 

In 2013 the Sunday Times 

named us as one of the Top 100 

Holiday Experiences (we booked 

£60,000 in a week). In the same 

year we were runner up in New 

Business of The Year for East 

Anglia. The following year we won 

the Mayor’s Award for Tourism. 

The PR just grew from there. 

How would you describe your 

ethos and unique selling point? 

We try and make Wild Luxury 

fun and a bit of an adventure for 

everyone: our guests, our staff 

team, and our suppliers. But we 

take what we do very seriously. 

We always try to make sure our 

standards are a little bit higher 

than everyone’s expectations, and 

that goes for everything from the 

quality of our mattresses to the 

end of season staff party. 

How did you choose your interior 

decoration? 

I didn’t, my wife did! Although Pip 

does happen to run one of the 

most successful boutique B&Bs in 

Norfolk! 

What challenges have you faced? 

The weather, filling the off 

season periods, meeting rising 

expectations of guests, finding 

“WE TRY 

AND MAKE 

WILD LUXURY 

FUN AND A 

BIT OF AN 

ADVENTURE 

FOR 

EVERYONE” 

good seasonal staff, the explosion 

of competitors, working in an 

off-grid environment and offering 

lodges with light switches and 

showers just like at home. Finding 

my dog, who loves wandering off 

whenever we are on camp. 

What are your plans for next 

season? 

Hot tubs, new wood burners 

imported from Italy in six of our 

lodges, and a woodland play area 

including a zip wire. 

Describe your average day midseason 

The first two hours is in the office 

answering emails and paying bills. 

I then visit both camps and meet 

with the camp directors to discuss 

any issues and chat to the guests. 

On change over days I see 

how the change over teams are 

getting on, find my dog, usually 

have some sort of maintenance 

issues so may spend an hour fixing 

something, go for a walk on the 

beach... Then it’s back for a couple 

more hours in the office. 

Why do you enjoy the business? 

I love my job and the freedom and 

that we help make so many very 

special memories. 

What are you most proud of? 

That I had the courage to walk out 

of an unbelievably well paid job 

because I believed there must be 

more to life than that and finding 

that there was. 



Hen weekends and corporate 

company escapes. We manage 

this by being very clear on what 

we provide and taking very large 

behaviour bonds! 

DETAILS 

Wild Luxury 

Sedgeford and Thornham Bay 

North Norfolk 

01485 750850 

www.wildluxury.co.uk 


Stay Somewhere 

Magical 

Quality Unearthed hand-pick alternative abodes 

for quirky, quality holidays in the most beautiful 

spots across the UK. From spacious yurts to luxury 

treehouses, from smart eco cabins to cleverly 

converted carriages, we provide all the ingredients 

for a magically memorable British break. 

visit qualityunearthed.co.uk 

call 01348 830922 

stay somewhere different 

If you’re looking to start your own glamping business, give our team a call on 01348 830922

GLAMPSITES 

LOVE2STAY 

LEFT: The interior 

of a Safari Lodge 

at Love2Stay, 

Shropshire 

RIGHT: Herbal 

Glamping Ljubno, 

Slovenia 

BELOW RIGHT: 

Watersports 

at Love2Stay, 

Shropshire 

Glamping 

Resorts 

As the glamping industry gains momentum, 

specialist resorts are a logical progression – could 

you get in on the action? Kate Morel shares her 

experience and vision 

LOVE2STAY 

IF A FRIEND said ‘we’ve just 

booked a resort holiday’, what 

image or thought would pop into 

your head? A glamorous hotel, spa 

and restaurant complex, or zipping 

to the pool first thing to stake your 

claim on a sun-lounger? Which, 

by the way, we can now pre-book 

via an app - yes folks, the mobile 

device has finally achieved its true 

destiny. 

What do we really mean by ‘a 

resort holiday’, anyway? Currently, 

it usually means an ‘all in one’ 

destination where everything 

you could need is right there on 

site – accommodation, shops, 

restaurants, activities and 

entertainment. Today, a lot of 

resorts tend to be owned by large 

companies or corporations, or 

maybe even part of a chain. These 

purpose-built resort developments 

might, however, just have a few 

distant roots embedded in our 

eclectic, Victorian resort towns 

and holiday destinations. I often 

pass through them on my travels 

and it’s easy to see when a place 

enjoyed its era of prosperity, 

denoted by the predominant style 

of architecture. In places such 

as Aberystwyth, Llangollen and 

Buxton, surviving buildings, parks 

and statues remain as echoes of a 

thriving heyday. What they all had 

in common, and still do, is that 

they developed organically around 

a natural beauty spot or wellness 

feature; so in some respects, 

nothing has changed, except 

the feature is now more often 

manufactured. 

A LAST RESORT… 

For as many of us that might 

shudder at being woken by Ruth 

Madoc chirping ‘Hi de Hi Campers’, 

there are as many who would 

love it. Depending on the time 

of year, we might also prefer 

the tranquillity of a quiet forest 

retreat, or aim for an actionpacked 

activity break - who’s off 

to a ski resort this month? There’s 

something in the resort world to 

suit most of us and whatever we 

feel like doing. And, while there 

might be pockets of antiquated 

coloured jacket here and there, 

today’s resort landscape is 

moving on, and shaping up to be 

something far more tailored. 

MARKET FORCES 

Like any other holiday 

accommodation type, the 

glamping industry is one of 

polarity and its resorts are no 

different. At one end, we have 

intimate, boutique offerings, 

like the exclusive eco-resorts 

that the likes of Indonesia 

and South Africa do so well – I 

might have mentioned it before 


GLAMPSITES 

GLAMPRO 

LOVE2STAY 

but do check out ‘Sandat’ in 

Bali for scrumptious boutique 

inspiration. At the other, large 

resorts have been quick to 

diversify, and have added 

glamping of some description to 

their developments. In line with 

what their guest demographic 

would want and expect, some 

have even commissioned their 

own structures with integrated 

bathroom and kitchen facilities. 

One might argue that this 

has influenced industry facility 

standards, as more guests staying 

at small sites are now complaining 

when bathrooms are not ensuite 

- even when they are clearly 

marketed as being separate. Other 

factors are probably contributing 

too, hyped-up articles by 

journalists and bloggers swooning 

over ‘toasty warm tents’ are 

creating high expectations. It’s 

also fair to say that the glamping 

industry is naturally developing, as 

manufacturers create new features 

and add-ons every year. 

LEADING BY EXAMPLE 

For glamping resorts, at the 

pure luxury end of the market, 

personally I don’t think it gets 

much better than ‘Paws Up’ in 

Montana, North America. They’ve 

got it all – a stunning location, 

gorgeous accommodations, 

absolutely ‘on the money’ 

activities; who wouldn’t want to: 

ABOVE: Garden Village 

Bled, Slovenia 

"THERE ARE 

SOME AS- 

TOUNDINGLY 

MASSIVE 

DEVEL- 

OPMENTS 

PLANNED 

FOR THE 

UK WHICH 

INCLUDE 

GLAMPING" 

“Step aboard our old fashioned 

horse-drawn wagon and enjoy a 

unique ride to the Blackfoot River. 

Sit back, relax and take in the joy 

of watching Montana’s famous 

Big Sky play host to the rolling 

hills, gorgeous backdrop and local 

wildlife that call Paws Up Ranch 

home. This scenic ride ends at 

the banks of the Blackfoot River, 

where you’ll enjoy an authentic 

chuck wagon dinner. The finest 

offerings are prepared before your 

eyes.” 

They’ve taken their Wild 

West history and woven it into 

a fantastic, one off experience 

for their guests, with themed 

accommodation and well thought 

out activities that will send 

guests home with unforgettable 

memories… Book me in! 

Closer to home, catering to 

the family market, Love2Stay in 

Shropshire is an ambitious resort 

GLAMPRO 

development, which includes 

122 touring pitches, a restaurant, 

pizzeria, and safari tents with 

private hot tubs, fitted kitchens, 

roll top baths and underfloor 

heating, setting a new benchmark 

for glamping accommodation in 

the UK. 

The site was previously laid to 

pasture, and while it had pleasant 

enough views, it wasn’t a place 

that visitors would flock to; in 

fact, unless they popped into the 

café, caravan or garden store, 

they’d drive straight past, usually 

heading for the Welsh coast. 

However, Salop Leisure created 

their own attractions by including 

a fitness suite, communal hot 

tubs, fishing lake, barefoot sensory 

walk, woodland hideout and den 

building, yoga, meditation classes, 

children’s nature play zone, and 

plant-powered natural swimming 

pool… among others! It opened 

in spring 2017 and has already 

welcomed over 22,000 guests; I 

think that figure rather speaks for 

itself. 

A CORPORATE DOMAIN? 

There are some astoundingly 

massive developments planned 

for the UK which include glamping, 

running into millions and millions 

of pounds. Given the level of 

investment involved, most are 

owned and created by powerful 

corporations and companies, and 


GLAMPSITES 

fabulous they are too. However, 

as I said earlier, there’s something 

out there for everyone, or at least 

I believe there should be, and 

looking at other examples already 

up and running it’s easy to see 

how glamping can also deliver a 

smaller but perfectly formed resort 

style development. 

For smaller companies and 

landowners who want to get into 

resort development, glamping 

could, strategically employed, be 

a way to do so simply by starting 

small, reinvesting, and developing 

over time. It goes without saying 

that the number of units we 

develop needs to be sufficient to 

support other site investments 

such as eateries and facilities, 

in line with our chosen business 

model and guest profile. As a rule, 

the bigger the investment, the 

more units are required, unless 

we’re creating something high 

end and exclusive where the high 

occupancy rates and rental fees 

will compensate. 

We can take inspiration from all 

sorts of existing places and sources 

to create our own ‘beauty spot’ 

and unique selling point, maybe 

even take a look into our local 

history; where did the Victorians 

hang out, and why? We can also 

work any number of leisure 

movements and activities into the 

business model and unique selling 

point we employ. We might not 

have millions to invest, but we can 

always get creative. Sure, we might 

not end up with a 300 millionpound 

site, but if we keep abreast 

of the trends and competition 

and develop intelligently, in time 

we should have an immensely 

successful, profitable business. 

Not to mention something to be 

proud of, and maybe even pass 

onto our children. 

ABOVE FROM TOP: 

Landscaped communal 

areas at Herbal 


Slovenia 

The natural 

swimming pool at 

Love2Stay, Shropshire 

AND BELOW: The 

Herbal Glamping 

Ljubno resort at 

night 

Tally asked me a final question 

when writing this piece and it was: 

‘In an ideal world, what would 

Kate Morel build?’ This really got 

me thinking. In an ideal world, this 

is one of the resorts I would build; 

something that resulted in this 

sort of guest experience, summed 

up in this mock review: 

“We’d been driving for two and 

LOVE2STAY 

a half hours, the kids were getting 

cranky and my partner was tired, 

he didn’t finish work till later than 

expected and we were well behind 

schedule. Finally, we arrived, 

weary but excited and the kids 

were beside themselves, they’d 

been so looking forward to coming 

here, in fact we all had. 

As we drove into the site, the 

reception was dead easy to find - 

clearly signposted and plenty of 

parking, thank goodness because 

the kids were now bouncing off the 

car roof! The check-in was quick 

and seamless, ‘Dan the Man’ was 

friendly and welcoming, really, 

nothing was too much trouble. 

And he was a hoot, the kids loved 

him immediately. 

GLAMPRO 

GLAMPRO 


Bespoke Glamping & Safari Tents 

01453 767171 

enquiries@bondfabrications.co.uk 

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GLAMPSITES 

LEFT: Glamping 

Olimia Adria Village, 

Slovenia 

RIGHT: Herbal 


Slovenia 

GLAMPRO 

GLAMPRO 

“WE FOUND OUT THINGS ABOUT OUR CHILDREN 

THAT WE DIDN’T KNOW, WE BONDED AS A FAMILY, 

AND HAVE COME HOME HAPPIER AND RELAXED. 

WE CAN’T WAIT TO COME BACK” 

We were bursting with 

anticipation as we were shown 

down to the cabin, and what a 

drive, all those trees and lanterns, 

magical. But, you know, as lovely 

as your website photos are, 

nothing could have prepared us 

for the atmosphere in our cabin 

– the photo’s don’t do it justice. It 

was warm and welcoming, the fire 

was already lit, the pre-booked 

supper was in the oven, and more 

importantly the wine I’d booked 

for when the kids had gone to bed 

was in the fridge. Even the dog had 

his own little welcome basket of 

treats, so thoughtful. 

Some of the furniture is just 

mad, where did you get it?! And 

that bathroom, so funny, I’ve never 

had the kids beg me to be sent off 

to clean their teeth! 

Our next few days were nothing 

short of idyllic; the wild swimming 

was safe and exhilarating, the 

communal paella night was a 

great way to make friends (six of 

us have already booked to stay 

again for the next school break), 

the open air movie night was 

totally magical, and the restaurant 

was a welcome break from 

having to cook - great menu, local 

ingredients, and the specials were 

fabulous. The fancy dress evening 

in the clubhouse was a compete 

hoot, oh my goodness the photos! 

The ‘Silly Day’ was probably 

my personal favourite, I can’t 

remember the last time I stopped 


Kate is a freelance 

consultant, creating 

innovative glamping 

solutions, holiday 

properties, and 

boutique hotels. She 

works directly with 

land and business 

owners, as well as 

providing contract 

support to other 

companies and 

tourism bodies. 

07849 514588 

info@katemorel.com 

www.katemorel.com 

LOVE2STAY 

being a grown-up and engaged 

with the children like that, we all 

need to be silly sometimes – thank 

you for creating that space. 

We found out things about our 

children that we didn’t know, 

we bonded as a family, and have 

come home happier and relaxed, 

we can’t wait to come back - but 

next time we’ve booked the Mad 

Hatter’s Cabin, our new-found 

friends showed us around last 

time. Many thanks for giving us 

and our children some treasured 

memories and our family an 

unforgettable time together, we’re 

telling everyone about you and our 

Facebook, Twitter and Instagram 

pages are full of your photos!” 

This would all be part of a fiveyear 

reinvestment development 

plan. I work from the guest 

experience back, so my focus 

would be on what contribution 

would each investment, 

development and add-on make 

to the guest experience, and 

therefore deliver in terms of 

occupancy, return business, and 

rental value. Last, but by no means 

least, I’d also invest in my team, 

in terms of training, remuneration 

and profit share, and maybe some 

guerrilla marketing, because I 

hate the idea of being a complete 

slave to Google. After 10 years, I’d 

probably sell it, and run away to 

Barbados with a toy-boy. 

I hope I’ve been able to inspire 

some thoughts and ideas about 

resorts. I work with all types of 

holiday accommodations, from 

glamping to country houses, so 

if you’d like to have a chat about 

your glamping plans, or how to 

develop your land or commercial 

accommodation, please get in 

touch. 

Till next time, Kate. 


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GLAMPSITES 

2018 and 

Beyond 

Sawday’s Canopy & Stars’ Tom Dixon reveals 

the trends in glamping, including outdoor 

bathing, human-sized beehives and why 

Britain is best 

The UFO at 

Treehouse 

Hotel, Sweden 

THE OUTDOOR HOLIDAY trend shows no sign of slowing 

with 1.8 million google searches related to glamping in the 

past year. At Canopy & Stars, we saw a record number of 

visitors to our site in 2017, and a 50% increase in bookings 

since 2015. 

Travel choices are being driven by a desire for enriching 

and authentic experiences and a real connection to nature 

and place, which is the very definition of a glamping 

holiday. We are seeing this trend continue to grow and 

become more evident, and the glamping industry is 

evolving to reflect this. We’re really keen to add even more 

immersive and holistic experiences to the Canopy & Stars 

collection, experiences that extend beyond the space itself 

and embrace nature and the seasons, and play to all the 

senses. 

Taking learnings and data from seven years of glamping 

expertise, and a bit of crystal ball gazing, here are our 

predictions for what the future holds for the industry: 

THE UK IS 

1 WHERE IT’S AT 

Wider industry trends and 

the Brexit effect all point to 

staycations staying put. A huge 

90% of our bookings are within 

the UK and 80% of the new 

places added to the site in 2017 

were in Britain, many of these at 

existing sites looking to grow. 

Brook House Woods in 

Herefordshire added three 

tree cabins and a brand new 

berry shaped treehouse, 

with more exciting projects 

planned. Hesleyside Huts 

in Northumberland added 

Rowan, an American inspired 

Wilderness Cabin. A brand new 

site, coming very soon, is Bucks 

Coppice, a lakeside eco-cabin in 

Dorset with that we predict will 

be popular with guests. 

TREEHOUSES STILL RULE 

2 ‘Treehouse’ remains the top search term of the Canopy & Stars site, 

accounting for over 21,000 searches in 2017, and seven of the top 10 performing 

spaces in our collection are treehouses, some achieving up to £100k of bookings 

a year. 

A firm favourite with our guests looking for luxury is The Bower Treehouse 

in Somerset. Exciting new additions include Netherby Treehouse, a hilltop 

treehouse on a beautiful Cumbrian estate and, opening for guests at the end 

of March, is the affordable Tawny Owl Treehouse at Knepp Wildland Safaris in 

Sussex. 

EVERYONE’S LOVING AN OUTDOOR BATH 

3‘Hot Tub’ has also become one of our top search terms, accounting 

for 7,500 searches in 2017, and pictures of outdoor bathing are our 

most popular on Instagram. 

A picture of twin outdoor bathtubs at The Old Piggery in Dartmoor 

was one of our most popular social posts of 2017. The outdoor shower 

at Woodsman’s Treehouse, Dorset, is a 

regular on Instagram and has been shared 

by some of the most popular users in the 

UK. For a hot tub experience, nothing 

beats the view from the tub at Little Poro 

in Devon. We predict more like this in 2018. 

The Old Piggery, Dartmoor 

ABOVE: Woodman's 

Treehouse, Dorset 


GLAMPSITES 

4 CREATIVITY 

IS KING 

Our owners are a creative 

bunch and their constant 

innovations keep the 

collection fresh. One-of-akind 

spaces always attract 

attention, and for travellers 

looking to collect experiences 

not things, these places give 

them something to talk about 

for years. 

We closed 2017 adding 

our very first human-sized 

beehive at Humble Bee in 

Devon. In the first month 

it had nearly 15,000 page 

views and the Instagram post 

reached over 50,000 people. 

A perennial favourite, The 

Beer Moth, constantly attracts 

attention from all corners 

of the globe, and nothing 

beats Sweden’s Treehotel for 

a photo opportunity. Watch 

this space for Ewok villages, 

underground houses and 

maybe another treehouse in 

a crane. 

Humble Bee, 

Devon 

The year of 

enrichment 

Canopy & Stars has claimed 

2018 as the year of enrichment. 

A year to get out and collect 

memories and moments that’ll be 

with you for the rest of your life. 

For more information take 

a look at The Enriched 

List. 

WINTER GLAMPING; IT’S A THING 

5 Winter stays were up by over 50% in 2017 when compared to the previous year, showing a 

real increase in demand for year-round spaces. We are also seeing owners adding wood burners, 

heating and winter comforts to existing places to extend the season. 

Added just in time for winter, part bothy, part cabin, Studio Hoose, is the perfect place for 

a wild winter stay in the Scottish Highlands. For an authentic Iron Age experience, grab a 

sheepskin, fire up the open hearth and lie back in a Devon roundhouse as the wind 

whistles through the trees. At Crafty Camping, heated towel rails, wood 

burners and hot water on tap makes canvas a year-round option. 

Studio Hoose, 

Ross-shire 


Tom Dixon is managing 

director at Sawday’s 

Canopy & Stars, a 

collection of selected 

and inspected special 

places to stay and 

experience the great 

outdoors across Britain, 

France, Spain, Portugal, 

Italy and Scandinavia. 

From humble beginnings 

in 2010, the agency has 

grown to more than 

500 places; everything 

from treehouses, yurts, 

and converted horse 

trucks, to cabins, 

Gypsy caravans and 

Iron Age roundhouses. 

Championing the small 

and independent, and 

being an advocate of 

sustainable tourism, 

the team genuinely 

cares about what they 

do, and how they do it. 

0117 204 7802 / www. 

canopyandstars.co.uk 


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industry 

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Ideal for: 

Campsites 

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If you’ve got a space, 

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GLAMPSITES 

OAB 

LOVES… 

LANDSCAPING 

AND EXTERIORS 

Products to help maintain and enhance 

your glampsite’s surroundings 

WE LOVE… 

The range of groundcare machinery from Stiga 

WHY? 

One thing all glampsite owners have in common 

is the need to maintain their landscapes. From 

the tiny to the expansive, there will be grass to cut 

and probably leaves to clear, hedges to trim and 

trees to chop. This Swedish range has it covered; 

from leaf blowers to garden tractors, Stiga has 

been manufacturing equipment for over 80 years. 

Check out the quiet but powerful battery operated 

Multiclip Pro 50 S AE with a 1,000m2 working area. 

FROM 

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0800 669 6326 

www.stigalawnmowers.co.uk 

WE LOVE… 

Natural playscapes and more from Nick Sneller 

WHY? 

If you have a vision for a unique and tailored outdoor 

space for your guests to reconnect with nature then 

you need to talk to Nick Sneller from The Classic 

Pod Company. His love of nature, combined with 25 

years of woodworking experience, saw him as master 

craftsman on the triple award winning Zoflora & 

Caudwell Children’s Wild Garden at the RHS Hampton 

Court Flower Show last year. Nick is the 

perfect partner with whom to co-design and 

be creative. Check out his work creating 

natural, sustainable playscapes and more for 

glampsites and gardens. 

FROM 

The Classic Pod Company 

07971 869058 

www.classicpodcompany.co.uk 


WE LOVE… 

Perfo interlocking ground reinforcement from S2T Group 

WHY? 

Keep your glampsite’s access areas in tip top condition and 

guest’s vehicles from getting stuck should the weather turn 

with the PERFO system of interlocking ground reinforcement 

tiles. They can be directly installed onto grass without 

excavation and don’t need planning permission in most 

cases. Grass will grow back through the holes in the product 

and natural drainage is maintained; they can also be 

removed at a later date if required. These tiles have many 

uses, including vehicle parking, access tracks, driveways and 

for areas with livestock. 

FROM 

S2T Group 

01992 522797 

www.perfo-uk.com 

WE LOVE… 

The range of robust outdoor 

furniture from Benchmark UK 

WHY? 

Almost every glampsite needs 

outdoor furniture, and the 

range of picnic tables and benches from Benchmark UK 

has something to suit pretty much any style. Made from 

non-toxic, pressure treated timber with a 15 year guarantee 

against rot or fungal attack, the products feature heavy duty 

fixings for rigidity. The company also has some huge discount 

events throughout the year, and free delivery and installation 

on most orders, so keep an eye on its website! 

FROM 

Benchmark UK 

01675 481155 

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EVENTS 

CASE STUDY 

Unearthed 

Festival 

A festival that aims to expand the 

consciousness of its attendees 

with great music and new experiences 

We talk to founder Tim Rees about an event that grew out of the launch of glampsite 

marketing business Quality Unearthed. Now a three-day affair, the Unearthed Festival 

provides transformative experiences for those who attend, from babes in arms to 

nonagenarians! 

Describe your event and how many 

people it attracts 

The mission of Unearthed Festival is 

the expansion of consciousness from 

the material to the ethereal. By this we 

mean that we would like to introduce 

interesting experiences, be that in the 

form of vegetarian food, a particular 

musical style or performer, or perhaps 

spiritual or philosophical concepts that 

our community may not be exposed 

to on a day-to-day basis. The idea is 

that with greater understanding of the 

self and universe, we are better able to 

walk the path of happiness. 

What is the event’s history? 

We started in 2011 as a one day 

'business launch' for Quality 

Unearthed, the glamping marketing 

agency that I founded, which was 

basically an excuse for a party with 

some cool things going on. It was really 

popular; the community got behind it 

so the following year we made it a twoday 

event. Now it is a popular threeday 

event - nobody wants it to end! 

“THE 

PROCESS OF 

LEARNING 

AND BEING 

INSPIRED WAS 

SOMETHING 

I WANTED TO 

SHARE WITH 

MY LOCAL 

COMMUNITY 

IN WEST 

WALES” 

What inspired you to set up the 

festival? 

I had the good fortune to meet 

many fascinating people during 

my travels around the world in my 

youth - often when living in forests, 

caves, monasteries and fascinating 

communities. The process of learning 

and being inspired was something 

I wanted to share with my local 

community in West Wales. We are 

blissfully in our own bubble in this part 

of the world, but that can come at the 

expense of not being exposed to the 

varied activities taking place further 

up the M4. 

We aim to be a community event, 

and we’re proud to host a variety of 

characters, ranging from farmers to 

fisherman, eco-community dwellers 

to business folk, babes in arms to 

an older crowd. In fact, we have had 

couples meet at Unearthed, then bring 

their babies to their first festival here. 

Even our 94-year-old neighbour is a 

fan! We orchestrate the event so that 

the start to each day is gentle and 

peaceful, building in action until the 

evening, where there is a good kneesup. 

The site is laid out like a village 

green, the idea being that parents can 

be sitting enjoying the music and their 

kids can be running around with other 

kids and can’t easily go out of sight. 

Pembrokeshire's reputation as a 

culturally interesting and beautiful 

area precedes itself - we are blessed 

with a rugged coastline and, in many 

ways, a rugged, ancient culture. It is 

still the case that everyone knows 

everyone, and doors are left unlocked. 

This level of trust and support means 

that the local people really get 

involved in the festival and get behind 

it. I suspect that, in part, because 

there aren't a lot of people living here, 

and not a wild night life (apart from 

the rugby clubs on a Saturday night), 

people seem to appreciate such an 

event taking place. 

The fantastic St Davids Peninsula 

allows you the unique opportunity 

to explore three coastlines within a 

six-mile radius of the festival, do yoga 

in the morning, go and surf, come back 

to the site, eat some great vegetarian 

food, make a bow and arrow, dance to 

some great artists, and end the night 

drinking mead by the fire. 

How did you find applying for 

permission to run the event? 

We have found that Pembrokeshire 

County Council are very amenable 

to events happening on St Davids 

Peninsula. Festivals such as this 

draw in extra tourism to the area, 

which is one of the peninsula’s main 

sources of income. We have also been 

overwhelmed by the support of the 

local community, many of whom 

have stalls at the festival, and many 

of whom are part of the volunteer 

team. It is the support of the people of 

Pembrokeshire that make this festival 

the special annual event it is. 


EVENTS 

What provisions do you make for 

power, lights and sound? 

We run the festival with the mindset 

that we tread lightly upon the land and 

do as little disruption to the environs 

and community that surround it – this 

includes sound moderation, the use 

of solar energy and as much green 

power as is viable, and we ask that 

guests take nothing but photos and 

leave nothing but photographs. We use 

a local recycling company to help us 

clean up and keep things green! 

How do you manage admissions and 

visitor safety? 

We have a fantastic team of volunteers 

who run our ticketing booth and 

parking, as well as trained on-site 

medical staff and security staff to 

ensure the safety and enjoyment of all 

festival-goers. 

What entertainment do you offer? 

I love the scheduling element of the 

festival. As it grows each year, more 

and more phenomenal acts get 

involved, ranging from musicians 

from all over the world, to reggae 

artists of great repute, as well as folk 

artists, with a regular Welsh language 

contingent and the annual Twmpath. 

We have acts like Natty, Jamie Cato 

(Faithless), Soom T, Undercover Hippy, 

Boy Azooga, and so many more. 

The musical acts need to fit into 

either the world, reggae or folk 

music categories. We schedule these 

particular acts so as to create an 

architecture of experience throughout 

the weekend. The talks are a big part of 

the event - these are scheduled largely 

based on the topics they are covering, 

and we endeavour to introduce 

ideas and themes which push the 

boundaries of our understanding. A 

great example of this is when author, 

former physicist and priest Don 

MacGregor gave an absolutely superb 

talk about science and spirituality. 

“THE MUSICAL 

ACTS NEED 

TO FIT INTO 

EITHER THE 

WORLD, 

REGGAE OR 

FOLK MUSIC 

CATEGORIES. 

WE SCHEDULE 

THESE PAR- 

TICULAR ACTS 

SO AS TO CRE- 

ATE AN ARCHI- 

TECTURE OF 

EXPERIENCE 

THROUGH- 

OUT THE 

WEEKEND”

EVENTS 

Performing artists range from circus 

performers, magicians, fire performers, 

stilt walkers, trapeze artists, poets, 

wood carvers and more. 

How do you publicise the event? 

The festival has grown exponentially 

year on year, and although we harness 

the power of social media, and have a 

fantastic website and marketing team, 

we are very lucky that the enjoyment 

of our guests means that word of 

mouth and sharing of experiences 

bring more people to our beautiful 

event each year. 

What are your plans for this year? 

Plans for this year are revealed in 

stages over the next few weeks and 

months, but we can confirm exclusively 

to you that we’re welcoming the 

fantastic Captain Accident this year, 

as well as returning artists Skybarkers 

and Los Pulpos, who always draw 

the crowds. Check out our Facebook 

page, @unearthedinafield, for exciting 

updates as we reveal the top artists 

for 2018. 

What are your favourite memories? 

One moment that springs to mind 

is a story about a heavily autistic 

gentleman who came along to 

Unearthed Festival. He finds social 

interaction difficult, but was seen 

speaking to people, laughing and 

dancing. When his wife was told about 

it, she burst into tears of happiness. 

This is why we do Unearthed Festival. 

Another favourite memory would be 

watching Natty playing the headline 

gig - everyone was in great spirits, and 

I was dancing with my girlfriend Miska; 

it was a beautiful moment. I remember 

thinking, no matter how many tickets 

sold, it would have been worth all the 

work just for that moment. There may 

have been some kissing going on, too! 

Each year we have an epic fire 

sculpture which we light on the last 

night of the festival. In 2017, the 

sculpture was especially large, and 

the flames could be seen for miles. 

Seeing the sparks of light refract across 

people’s faces as they danced joyfully 

around the fire as the drums beat and 

folk sang was an epic few moments… 

“EACH YEAR 

WE HAVE AN 

EPIC FIRE 

SCULPTURE 

WHICH WE 

LIGHT ON 

THE LAST 

NIGHT OF THE 

FESTIVAL” 

until we thought the sparks would set 

the trees on fire, then we panicked! 



I run the glamping accommodation 

agency Quality Unearthed. The 

glamping industry owes a debt of 

gratitude to festivals, and more 

specifically, to festival go-ers. These 

are the people who are developing the 

skills and have the creative minds to 

build unusual structures. There aren’t 

many festivals that don’t have tipis 

or yurts - these are what you might 

say were the original UK glamping 

structures. 

What advice could you give to 

someone coming into the outdoor 

event industry? 

Get a great team behind you. This 

festival would not be able to take place 

annually without the support of a 

strong management team, marketing 

team, loyal volunteers and fantastic 

suppliers. Always support local 

businesses where possible, as people 

come to Pembrokeshire to experience 

the authenticity of the area. 

Communicating well with your 

local council should be a priority, as 

well as ensuring you have all relevant 

insurances in place before you begin 

thinking about acts and events. It is 

also important to organise events and 

artists that you enjoy, as the more 

that staff, management and artists are 

enjoying themselves, the more this 

sense of happiness transfers to festival 

goers. 

DETAILS 

29 June – 1 July 

St Davids, Pembrokeshire 

www.unearthedfestival.co.uk 


HAE EHA - improving benefits 

and support for its members 

Achieve the highest 

industry standards 

Reduce risk 

Improve service 

delivery levels 

For further information visit www.safehire.org.uk 

or call the SafeHire Team on 0121 380 4613. 

Developed in partnership with: 

Visit SafeHire at the EHA Stand J56E

EVENTS 

RISK 

Assessment 

Getting your head around risk 

assessment with Chris Hannam 

I AM SURE that most of you will have 

heard of risk assessments and you may 

know they are a legal requirement, but do 

you know what they comprise of or how to 

carry one out? 

Risk assessment forms the basis of 

modern day health and safety. Event 

organisers are legally responsible for 

ensuring that overall safety at their event 

is maintained so that, as far as reasonably 

practicable, people setting up, breaking 

down and attending are not exposed to 

risks to their health and safety. Employers 

are legally required to produce them to 

limit risks to their employees, and it will be 

a condition of an event license that they 

be produced to an adequate standard. The 

local authority will need to see copies to 

ensure they are satisfied that an organiser 

has taken all reasonable steps to protect 

the safety of the public. Employees 

will need to see them for the jobs they 

undertake so they know what controls 

need to be put in place; they are of little 

use if they are just filed away. 

A risk assessment is a systematic 

examination of a task, job or process for 

the purpose of: 

› Identifying the significant hazards that 

are present 

› Deciding if what you have already done 

reduces the risk of someone being 

harmed to an acceptable level, and if 

not; 

› Deciding what further control measures 

you must take to reduce the risk to an 

acceptable level. 

The purpose of risk assessment is to 

identify what you need to do to meet the 

minimum legal requirements. By meeting 

your minimum legal duties you will, by 

default, have reduced risks to the lowest 

possible level. To find out what the lowest 

possible level is you will need to research 

the relevant legislation, regulations and 

Health and Safety Executive guidance 

documents. 

A risk assessment is not about creating 

huge amounts of paperwork, but rather 

about identifying sensible measures to 

control the risks in your workplace and at 

your event. 

We carry out risk assessments every day, 

such as when we cross the road; the hazard 

in this case would be moving vehicles. We 

stop, look and listen before we cross; those 

are the controls we use. 

HAZARD = anything with the potential to 

cause damage or harm 

RISK = the likelihood of harm and the 

seriousness (severity) of the damage 

Likelihood X Severity = Risk Rating 

CONTROLS = the procedures or actions 

that must be put in place to reduce the 

risk to the lowest possible level 

We can carry out a ‘risk rating’ by using 

the the table on the next page. Initially this 

is done in the raw state, with no controls 

listed. We then add the controls to our 

assessment and carry out a second risk 

rating on the activity with these controls in 

place. This gives a residual risk factor. 

Hazard identification and risk 

assessment will help you: 


EVENTS 

› Recognise and control hazards 

› Create awareness (you can use this 

for training) 

› Set risk management standards 

based on acceptable safe practices 

and legal requirements 

› Reduce incidents 

› Save costs by being proactive 

instead of reactive. 

Hazards can include noise, 

machinery, work at height, lifting 

(flying) large items of equipment, 

electricity, plant operations, 

hazardous substances, fire, work 

equipment, vehicles, low levels of 

light, manual handling, pyrotechnics, 

special effects etc. There may be 

several hazards associated with any 

given work activity. 

More often than not, people 

think that incidents occur due 

to negligence or mistakes, but in 

fact most incidents occur due to 

insufficient controls. 

Your proactive effort to implement 

risk management systems can 

prevent the majority of incidents 

that may occur. The following are 

examples of systems to put into place 

in your workplace or at your event to 

reduce the likelihood of a health and 

safety incident: 

› training 

› inspections 

› work procedures 

› employee fitness 

› planned maintenance of 

equipment and structures; and 

› ensuring sufficient and competent 

supervision. 

A hazard identification and risk 

assessment process is a proactive 

one. It is more cost effective to 

complete this process and implement 

a risk management system than to 

have an incident on site and then 

create the risk management systems 

retrospectively. 

As we have already stated, risk 

assessments are legally required; 

your insurance may not be valid 

if you fail to meet minimum legal 

requirements, and there are also 

ethical, reputational and financial 

benefits. 

LIKELIHOOD 

1 Extremely unlikely 

2 Possible but unlikely 

3 Conceivable 

4 Probably would happen at some time 

5 Almost certain to happen 

SEVERITY 

1 No or minimum injury - No equipment or 

property damage 

2 First aid treatment on site - Minimum 

equipment or property damage 

3 First aid treatment off site - Equipment and 

property damage 

4 Major injury or hospitalisation - Localised 

equipment or property damage 

5 Fatality - Extensive property or equipment 

damage 

LIKELIHOOD X SEVERITY = 

RISK RATING 

1-6 LOW RISK Action is required to lower 

the risk. Time effort and money must 

be proportionate to the risk 

HIERARCHY OF RISK CONTROL 

The hierarchy of risk control is a system 

of control measures used to eliminate or 

reduce exposure to hazards, which has five 

levels of control measures. It is used when 

undertaking a risk assessment, to decide 

on which precautions are needed to control 

the risks posed by the hazards. 

Elimination 

Substitution 

Engineering controls 

Administrative controls 

Personal protective equipment 

› Elimination – First try and see if the 

hazard can be removed eg. working on the 

ground instead of working at height. 

› Substitution – Examples of this could be 

substituting a hazardous substance for 

a safer alternative, or a mobile elevating 

work platform (MEWP) to replace a ladder 

etc. 

› Engineering Controls – These could 

include use of work equipment or other 

measures to prevent falls where you cannot 

avoid working at height, or the installation 

7-15 MEDIUM RISK Action is required to 

control the risk. Immediate short term 

measures may be required 

16-25 HIGH RISK Action is required urgently 

to control the risk. Further resources 

are almost inevitable 

Severity 

Likelihood 

5 5 10 15 20 25 

4 4 8 12 16 20 

3 3 6 9 12 15 

2 2 4 6 8 10 

1 1 2 

1 

2 

or use of additional machinery such as 

local exhaust ventilation to control risks 

from dust or fume. Separate the hazard 

from operators by methods such as 

enclosing or guarding dangerous items of 

machinery/equipment, and give priority 

to measures that protect collectively over 

individual measures. 

› Administrative Controls – These are 

all about implementing the procedures 

you need to work safely. For example, 

reducing the time workers are exposed to 

hazards (eg. by job rotation), prohibiting 

use of mobile phones in hazardous areas, 

increasing safety signage, and performing 

risk assessments. 

› Personal Protection Equipment – We only 

use personal protection equipment (PPE) 

as the last resort, after all other methods of 

controlling the risk have been considered. 

The reason is PPE is only protective, it is 

not preventative. If chosen, PPE should be 

selected and fitted by the person who uses 

it. Workers must be trained in the function 

and limitation of each item of PPE. 

Finally, we review our risk assessments 

on a regular basis or when operations, 

people, equipment and materials change 

to ensure they are current and up to date. 

So there it is, a simple process; are you 

doing enough for your event or business? 

3 

3 

4 

4 

5 

5 


Chris Hannam runs Stagesafe, offering health and safety consultancy and training for the live music and event production industries. With over 35 years’ 

experience he advises event organisers, production and tour managers, promoters, freelancers, service companies and businesses at every level on all H&S 

documentation, site planning, crowd management, CDM compliance, steward safety training, contractor safety management and more. www.stagesafe.co.uk 


26 & 27 September 2018 

Sandown Park 

Surrey 

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS 

of business signed on site at Festout 2017 

BE PART OF THIS IN 2018 

Contact James Linin to discuss the exhibiting opportunities available 

020 8481 1122 | jlinin@mashmedia.net 

@festoutshow 

festivalandoutdoorshow.co.uk

EVENTS 

GETTY IMAGES 

Local 

Liaison 

John Radford highlights the importance of local liaison 

when planning an outdoor event, and how to get it right 

YOU’VE WORKED HARD to plan 

your project or event. Your sums 

add up (hopefully), the team 

is working well, the date is set 

and the marketing plan is taking 

shape. What more do you need to 

produce something unique and 

exciting? 

How about making sure that you 

have really done your homework 

when it comes to local liaison 

and engagement? We are not 

talking about placing a marketing 

advert in the local paper or even 

telling friends down at the local 

pub about your plans. We are 

talking about really engaging, 

communicating and liaising with 

those in the community in which 

the project takes place. Those 

who live or work nearby, the local 

shops and businesses, the parish 

council, local authority and the 

local agencies such as Highways, 

Fire Service and the Police. 

BENEFITS FOR ALL 

Have you really considered the 

benefits that this kind of local 

liaison can bring to your event? 

What’s even better is that a lot 

of this liaison shouldn’t cost 

money but simply time and effort. 

The rewards though could be 

fantastic and the investment in 

time and effort can easily pay off 

handsomely. Some of that liaison 

may not always be positive but 

if issues are highlighted in the 

early stages then actions can be 

implemented or simply the act 

of communicating may assist in 

developing a better relationship. 

Better relationships can build better 

projects through opportunities and 

ideas. Look at local liaison time as 

time well spent. 

WHO ARE THESE STAKEHOLDERS? 

The term stakeholders is 

sometimes used when considering 

projects and events but who 

exactly are these stakeholders? 

At the most simplistic level, they 

are persons with an interest in or 

concern about something; in this 

instance, that “something” is your 

project. 

You’ve probably thought long 

and hard about the project you 

are about to embark upon. Have 

you considered though how it may 

impact others around you? Do 

you have neighbours or adjoining 

businesses? How will your actions 

impact them? Rather than working 

in isolation, early engagement 

and building relationships can 

provide significant dividends. We 

often see local stakeholders object 

to projects and events based 

on perceptions or assumptions 

that don’t actually hold water. 

The classic example is the small 

community music event in a local 

field that adjoining residents feel 


EVENTS 

is rapidly going to become the 

next Glastonbury Festival when 

the reality is an attendance of 

1,000 people from local families 

having a fantastic summer evening 

out. Getting these groups and 

individuals (stakeholders) on 

side and informed is a critical 

aspect of the event planning, and 

something that shouldn’t, under 

any circumstances, be ignored. 

Don’t just see these 

stakeholders in a negative context. 

Local stakeholders may hold the 

key for you in terms of opening up 

other opportunities to improve 

your event. Do they have adjoining 

access or egress routes that may 

assist in ensuring your customers 

can get to and from the venue 

or event footprint effectively? 

Maybe they would like to become 

actively involved as a volunteer? 

Do they have experience in 

similar projects? There could be 

significant positive impacts from 

local liaison and stakeholder 

engagement. 

WHERE TO START 

Get the facts out there early. Does 

the local community really know 

how your project or event could 

benefit them, or even simply what 

the project is actually about? Will 

your customers spend money 

in the local community or use 

local accommodation and food 

outlets? Are you using a local park 

or school as part of the event 

footprint for example? Have you 

paid fees for the use of local halls 

or facilities that can have a direct 

and positive benefit for local 

stakeholders? Have you talked 

to similar events and projects to 

gauge what benefits they created 

locally? Provide good examples – 

don’t hide the positives. 

Sometimes it’s easy to overlook 

the wider positive aspects that 

your project can bring. If you are 

running a closed site with on-site 

camping, food and entertainment 

there may be minimal immediate 

cross benefits for the wider 

community, although you are 

still putting the location on the 

map and visitors to your event or 

project may return again, simply to 

see the local area in more detail. If, 

“INCREASED 

FOOTFALL 

PRODUCES 

INCREASES 

IN REVENUE 

FOR SHOPS, 

CAFES, 

PUBS AND 

ACCOMMO- 

DATION 

PROVIDERS” 

however, your project is integrated 

into the general environs the 

benefits to the local community 

can be substantial. Increased 

footfall produces increases in 

revenue for shops, cafes, pubs 

and accommodation providers. 

Have these potential benefits been 

investigated and can you use local 

relationships to bring benefits to 

all? 

During the planning phase 

ensure that the communication 

process is an integral part of the 

project life cycle. It shouldn’t be 

seen as an optional add-on but 

an integral element within the 

process of planning. In some 

circumstances it may be wise to 

bring together a larger group of 

people who could be affected by 

your project to ensure everyone 

feels they have a clear line of 

communication with you. Don’t 

be afraid if they ask searching 

questions – if you have done 

your homework and planned the 

project appropriately then you 

should have nothing to hide. 

ENGAGE AND COMMUNICATE 

Communicating – “the imparting 

or exchanging of information 

by speaking, writing, or using 

some other medium” (Oxford 

Dictionary). We all do it on a daily 

basis, but sometimes we forget 

how important communication is. 

Whether verbal, written or even 

body language, communication 

allows understanding and 

engagement. Don’t be afraid of it 

but embrace it; it can make your 

life easier and bring people and 

organisations on side if they aren’t 

already. 

Use the local newspaper or 

community website, write some 

articles, run a local leaflet drop 

or maybe facilitate an open 

meeting. As a business, we 

recently attended a community 

hall meeting regarding an event. 

Initially there was some hostility 

towards the planned event but 

having come face to face with 

the team behind the project, 

the community went away 

with a better understanding 

and knowledge about what the 

event would bring and how they 

would not be impacted. Overall 

the meeting took less than two 

hours but over 30 people from 

the community attended and the 

benefits of that engagement can 

not be underestimated. 

COUNCILS AND PUBLIC BODIES 

Many promoters and event 

teams leave liaison with the local 

authorities and other public 

GETTY IMAGES 


EVENTS 

bodies like the Highways and 

Police until either the license has 

been applied for or they are called 

to a Safety Advisory Group (SAG) 

meeting by the authority. Our view 

would be that early engagement 

and liaison with these agencies 

is vitally important and can help 

in the planning of a safe and 

successful event. They may well 

identify weaknesses in your plan 

but if these are communicated 

to you at an early stage remedial 

actions can be appropriately 

managed and implemented. 

Leaving these elements to the last 

minute can simply make your life 

harder. 

Local councillors often have their 

ear to the ground and can be your 

positive spokespeople out in the 

communities. They can ensure that 

the facts are being communicated 

rather than false rumour. Again, 

they may be aware of issues that 

have not been currently identified 

but with good liaison may also 

assist in solutions. A past example 

for us was a promoter who simply 

didn’t engage or empathise with 

the community in which their event 

was set. They didn’t engage in any 

pre-planning liaison with anyone, 

including the local authority. When 

it came to licensing the event, they 

were met with brick walls and a 

list of objections of which many 

could have been dealt with through 

early engagement and face to face 

liaison. Time was wasted, and 

“WITH THE 

EXPLOSION 

IN SOCIAL 

MEDIA AND 

INTERNET 

USAGE IT 

PAYS TO BE 

AWARE OF 

THE BENEFITS 

BUT ALSO 

THE PITFALLS 

IN THESE 

MEDIUMS” 

those barriers lasted a long time as 

the local agencies felt they and the 

community weren’t being listened 

to. 

SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE 

INTERNET 

With the explosion in social media 

and internet usage it pays to be 

aware of the benefits but also the 

pitfalls in these mediums. They 

are a great way to showcase the 

event or project, to explain the 

benefits in greater detail and 

to act as a marketing platform. 

However, they can also be used 

equally effectively by others to 

degrade your event or make 

complaints, concerns or objections 

they may have very public. Think 

about using elements of social 

media to ensure that your event is 

understood and that the plans are 

clear and take account of the local 

area and stakeholders. 

Your own website may well be 

a first port of call for interested 

parties trying to find out more 

information about your project – 

so perhaps include a page on the 

website providing information 

for local residents or how local 

businesses could benefit from 

working alongside you. 

GETTING IT WRONG 

What’s the worst that can happen 

if you forego local liaison or don’t 

ensure that local stakeholders, the 

council or others have the facts? In 

some cases, nothing, but in others 

you may find that your licensing 

process is a rocky road or that 

there is significant negative press 

about your event. 

The work that you put into local 

liaison may not always pay off, 

but if you have tried your best at 

ensuring that the local community 

and stakeholders in your project 

are kept well informed and 

engaged, then at the very least you 

cannot be accused of hiding the 

facts or being difficult in answering 

queries or concerns. 

From our experience, those extra 

phone calls and meetings bring 

big dividends. When we work with 

clients to develop ideas some of 

our first thoughts are how we can 

communicate these plans to the 

wider community and how best to 

ensure that our local liaison is the 

best it can be. 


John Radford runs JR Event Services and has worked in the event industry for over 20 years. He provides 

event management and event safety consultancy services for a broad spectrum of events from single day 

and city centre cultural events to week long music and dance festivals. Visit www.jreventservices.co.uk or 

call 01275 406760 for an informal chat. 

GETTY IMAGES 


SIMPLY PUT… 

WE COMPLETE THE PICTURE 

Services we offer include: 

• Event Management and Production 

• Creative Event Solutions 

• Technical and Site design and Procurement 

• Event Safety 

• Event Safety Training 

• Licensing & Stakeholder Liaison 

Sophisticated & exceptional 

entertainment & styling 

Unrivalled in the events industry 

www.bollidarling.co.uk 

Tel: 01275 406760 

www.jreventservices.co.uk 

Email: info@jreventservices.co.uk 

You can also find us on 


EVENTS 

SUPPLIER PROFILE 

Europa 

International 

We talk to Helen Lowe about how Europa 

combines furniture with fun! 

08454 303015 

sales@europainternational.com 

www.europainternational.com.opa 

WHAT DO YOU DO? 

We are a fab and fun event furniture hire 

firm that likes to put a smile on our clients’ 

faces when it comes to thinking about 

what furniture to use for their events. 

We know how stressful putting on a 

‘happening’ can be– irrespective of size, 

location or audience – so we’re here to take 

the pressure off by providing impeccable 

furniture of all shapes and sizes. Be that 

for large conferences or small soirées 

taking place indoors or outdoors, in 

contemporary settings, temporary 

structures or well established venues. 

Basically if you need it (furniture, that is), 

we’re the folks for you! 

WHY DO YOU DO IT SO WELL? 

One of the main reasons we do it so well 

is because we’ve been doing it for such 

a long time (57 years to be precise), and 

during that time we’ve pretty much 

covered every type of event one can 

imagine. 

We ensure our products are always 

meticulously cleaned and stored so they 

always look the part, and we listen to our 

clients so that we can offer advice on what 

will work best for them while keeping 

logistics front of mind. 

Ultimately, we’re about more than just 

‘dropping off and getting off’. We will take 

the time to plan the package and stage the 

furniture in the location in question. We 

believe in true customer service. 

PLEASE GIVE US A POTTED COMPANY 

HISTORY 

Europa International is a truly 

independent family run event furniture 

hire firm which was founded in 1961 by 

Brian and Elise Murphy. We’ve had several 

facelifts over the years, but our core 

offering has largely stayed the same and 

as such we have provided furniture, shell 

scheme and carpet products to countless 

events across the UK and Europe. 

DESCRIBE YOUR BRAND PROPOSITION 

A reliable firm with the experience and 

expertise you need to ensure that the 

furniture you hire is right for the event in 

question – be that big, small, traditional or 

a little bit more quirky. 

We also like to think our brand is strong, 

fun and personable, which is a huge part of 

what makes our customers so loyal. 

HERO PRODUCT(S) 

If you need amazing white leather furniture 

or sofas for an event then we are definitely 

the people you need to talk to. Similarly, 

if you need to stage a large conference 

in a structure we can provide matching 

conference seating for 5,000 (a number 

we’re pretty proud of). 

Bar stools also make up a very popular 

product on our books, whether in classic 

black and white or with one of our many 

coloured pads that can be chosen to match 

the corporate or event colour scheme. 

ANY EXTRA SPECIAL PEOPLE? 

Everyone in our team is special and that 

is what makes us a success, but a special 

mention goes to our much missed MD 

Steve (senior) who was responsible for 

instilling many of the values by which we 

hold ourselves accountable to today. 

Steve was well known in the industry 

(for his humour and caring approach) until 

his sad passing in October of last year. 

He taught us all well though, and we’re 

continuing to deliver amazing products to 

amazing customers just as he would have 

wanted. 

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? 

There’s almost too much to say here, but 

I would say our approach to customer 

service, the relationships we have with our 

customers which has resulted in incredible 

loyalty over the years, and the amazing 

resilience of our entire team who do their 

jobs so well. 

WHY SHOULD A CUSTOMER GET IN 

TOUCH? 

If you want peace of mind, a quality service 

and products, and a giggle along the way 

then we’re the firm for you. We don’t bite, 

but I can’t promise that we won’t make you 

laugh and forget what you called for! 


Professional Live Event Support 

• Stages & stage canopies • Lighting, good stocks 

• AV systems • Power & mains distribution 

• Skilled operators • Dry hire or supply and instal 

www.mosaicfx.co.uk | 01462 85 1234 


ADVERTISING FEATURE 

Spot light 

A roundup of products for the outdoor hospitality industry 

COMMERCIAL BUILD QUALITY 

FROM BROSTERFIELD SHEPHERD 

HUTS 

Brosterfield Shepherd Huts 

01433 747777 

www.brosterfieldshepherdhuts.co.uk 

Brosterfield specialises in the 

design and manufacture of luxury, 

commercial quality shepherd 

huts for the glamping industry. 

Constructed on our heavy duty 

steel chassis with a solid timber 

frame, the walls, floor, and ceiling 

are fully insulated with 100mm 

foil faced rigid insulation boards 

ensuring huts are warm, dry 

and durable all year round. Our 

clients can rest assured their 

huts will withstand the letting 

market for many years. If you are 

considering starting or expanding 

a glampsite, come and speak with 

us first for professional advice. 

We have a wealth of knowledge 

in engineering, construction and 

property. More importantly, we 

also own a glamping business! 

POWERPACK 100+ FOR 

POWERING GLAMPING UNITS 

Portable Power Technology 

01474 761051 

www.portablepowertech.com 

Our compact, lightweight and 

efficient Powerpack 100+ is a 

rugged, versatile system that will 

prove itself to be a vital part of 

your site! The Powerpack 100+ 

can power and charge a variety of 

small devices including phones, 

radios and laptops, and is the 

ideal product to power lighting 

in glamping pods. Consisting of a 

100w inverter and efficient Li-ion 

battery, this unit can be charged 

by grid, solar or a car’s 12v socket. 

PPT offer a wide range of off 

grid power solutions so use our 

expertise to customise a system 

to suit you! Call us now on 01474 

761051. 

LOW COST GLAMPING UNIT FOR A 

QUICK, EASY NIGHT’S SLEEP 

The HikerBiker Pod Company 

07970 968433 

www.hikerbikerpod.com 

The HikerBiker pod has been 

designed as a low capital cost 

camping unit for landowners 

that want to offer their clients 

something a little different. 

Perfect near to hiking and 

biking trails for guests to 

grab a quick and easy night’s 

sleep, and also great for 

that fun few days secluded 

away in the woods or down 

beside the river. Pods are 

big enough for two adults to 

sleep comfortably and come 

with a fully sprung waterproof 

mattress and built in luggage 

storage area. Solar powered 

lighting and USB charging 

points are a useful option. 

GLAMPING TREEHOUSES FOR 

£15,000! 

New Leaf Tree House Company 

07947 341400 

www.newleafthc.co.uk 

New Leaf designs and builds 

glamping treehouses for 

installation on most trees. The 

042 (pictured) costs £15,000 

and offers 21m2 of usable 

space split between a tent and 

a spacious deck. It needs very 

little site preparation and uses 

an attachment system that 

‘hugs’ the tree securely and 

safely with no damage. The 

042 is classed as a temporary 

structure so does not require 

planning permission in most 

cases. Constructed from local, 

sustainably grown chestnut, 

oak and Douglas fir, it has FSC 

cedar shingles and high quality, 

Campshield canvas. The price 

includes installation in usually 

under two days, weather and 

access permitting. 


LUXURY POP-UP GLAMPING 


020 7993 8018 

www.portobellotents.com 

Portobello Tents was founded from 

a love of the English countryside, 

a good party, and the desire to 

sleep in luxury once those dancing 

shoes come off! Our team has 

pulled together its skills, providing 

stylish and luxurious, ethically 

sourced canvas camps at festivals, 

weddings and events across the UK 

and beyond. There is something 

undeniably magical about sleeping 

outside under canvas. We offer a 

perfect balance of fresh country air 

combined with luxury; all our Bell 

and Lotus Belle tents have memory 

foam mattresses, 200 thread 

count fresh linen and atmospheric 

lighting. Work with us and offer 

your clients something unique and 

refreshing. 

PERFO GROUND 

REINFORCEMENT SYSTEM 

S2T Group 

01992 522797 

www.perfo.co.uk 

S2T Group’s PERFO range of 

ground protection products 

comprises a system of 

interlocking, self-anchoring 

permeable plastic tiles which 

are embedded into an existing 

surface, eg. a mature grass area 

or prepared base consisting of a 

layer of crushed stone chippings, 

depending on the application. 

A number of light to heavy duty 

solutions are available to suit 

varied ground conditions, traffic 

profiles and loading requirements. 

Unlike other geogrid systems, 

PERFO tiles are usually installed 

without the need for excavation, 

being compacted directly into 

the existing surface using rollers 

or compactor plates. Installation 

is therefore rapid and planning 

issues less problematic. 

DESIGN YOUR OWN DELUXE DOME 

F.Domes 

020 8133 2588 

www.fdomes.com/gb 

A leading global manufacturer and 

supplier of DIY geodesic dome kits, 

F.Domes offers deluxe outdoor lodging 

at an upscale and ritzy standard. 

Portable, en-suite and attractively 

priced, they are a phenomenal choice 

for landowners, estate managers, 

holiday park, resort, campsite and 

hotel owners to diversify and boost 

their business. Custom-design your 

dome using pioneering 3D software to 

free your creativity and choose from 

dozens of colour combinations for 

membrane, insulation, curtains and 

bathroom module coverings. All-year, 

all-climate and all-weather, F.Domes 

Glamping Domes are remarkably 

stable and exceptionally durable; they 

can be safely used in harsh weather 

conditions, even in heavy snowfall 

and high wind areas. 

SHEPHERD'S HUT KITS 

Plain Huts 

07903 313922 

www.plainhuts.co.uk 

Now is the time to prepare 

for the next season and if you 

plan to extend your range of 

accommodation a shepherd’s hut is 

a great option. 

Plain Huts offers kits that are a cost 

effective way of building your own 

hut. The kits are made to suit your 

site with the door and window 

apertures made to the size you 

specify and placed according to 

your requirements (please note, 

the kit does not include the door 

and window). The kit arrives with 

the rolling chassis fully assembled 

and the walls ready to erect. Also 

supplied are the rafters and the tin 

for the roof. 

The kit can be three dimensional 

and watertight within a weekend 

leaving you to complete it and add 

your personal touch. The basic kit 

starts at £4,180 ex VAT. 


Discover inspiration and insights 

at EPS 

a 

OLYMPIA LONDON 

WEDNESDAY 28 FEBRUARY 

Can live music save the 

music industry? 

Mitigating the terrorism threat 

THURSDAY 1 MARCH 

All Points East Victoria Park - a game 

changer for Outdoor Events? 

Reimagining Secondary Ticketing 

You're welcome 

REGISTER NOW 

eventproductionshow.co.uk 

Bang Hai Towers, Boomtown and the photographer is Scott Salt.

CLASSIFIED DIRECTORY 

Classified Directory 

LEADING LIGHT 

AND POWER 

FOR THE EVENTS 

INDUSTRY 

0345 409 0280 

Sewage Treatment Systems 

For all residential, commercial 

and industrial applications 

01295 236101 • info@theseptictankstore.co.uk 

www.theseptictankstore.co.uk 

If you need help with the 

Safety, Security or 

Stewarding at your events, 

please get in touch 

01483 266486 / 020 8545 2492 

info@theeventpartnership.co.uk 

www.eepsafety.com 

Exhibition Trailers • Sale or Hire 

020 8441 0813 • info@showmobiles.co.uk 

www.showmobiles.co.uk 

TIMBER INTENT 

Tensile structures: 

facilities, camp, glamp & event 

Architecture: 

design & planning application 

01297 444416 timberintent.co.uk 

InPartyTentsCo. 

HIRING ALL OVER KENT & SUSSEX, NO VAT 

AND FREE DELIVERY WITHIN 30 MILE RADIUS 

O7917 457 820 | inpartytentsco@aol.com 

STYLISH & UNIQUE MARQUEES 

FOR WEDDINGS & PARTIES 


Ask Periwinkle 

Rural business entrepreneur Periwinkle shares 

his decades of experience in making money from people outdoors 

Dear Periwinkle, 

Q I want to offer 

something truly unique at my 

glampsite, any ideas? 

Timothy, Cumbria 

Most industry insiders 

A think ‘hot tubbing’ has 

had its day. Yet it’s amazing 

just how much fun people can 

have while wet. And there’s no 

drop in demand for this sort of 

thing. So don’t throw the baby 

out with the tub water just yet. 

Chatter amongst the über-cool 

suggests that the ‘natural’ 

swimming pool is trending right 

now. 

No, a natural swimming pool 

isn’t a disused pond containing 

a submerged bedstead, the 

remnants of a Ford Cortina 

and enough plastic bottles to 

give David Attenbourgh the 

dry boak. A natural swimming 

pool is a scientific marvel on a 

par with the Eden project and 

possibly costing as much. 

The creation from scratch of 

a delicate eco system is a hefty 

undertaking and cannot be 

achieved by adding tap water 

to your idea of Adam and Eve’s 

vegetable patch from Genesis 

(Ma Nature’s go at this took 4 

billion years). 

A word to the wise (in the 

spirit of getting back to nature): 

forget ‘swimming pool’. Save 

£20K and think about the 

following. It’s not how God did 

it, but follow these steps to 

success: 

› Dig a hole 

› Fit it with water 

› Add frogs (I recommend 

using volunteer frogs only; 

throw a random frog in a 

pond against its will and 

you’re asking for trouble - 

she’ll hop it first chance she 

gets 

› Add weeds, believe me 

they’re not hard to find 

› Decant a brace of minnows 

into the mix as a sop to the 

environmental lobby 

› Stir and leave it two years. 

With a favourable wind at 

your back, you might create 

an eco-friendly swimming 

hole. Just don’t ask me to be 

the first to jump in. 


Q My wedding business 

is ticking over nicely at the 

Manor House but could 

offering accommodation on 

site boost our revenue? 

Will, Herefordshire 

Absolutely. The smart 

A money right now is on 

weekend-long weddings - 

extended celebrations and 

pursuit of that fluffiest of 

social phenomena: ‘getting 

togetherness’. This is a cat that 

can be skinned in a number of 

ways. 

Clear out the servant’s 

quarters (and any servants 

too). Depending on how much 

you love your granny, you can 

either ‘retire’ the old goat to 

one of the farm cottages or just 

stick 500 quid in her handbag 

and shove her on the next 

bus to the Outer Hebrides. 

Then, once you’ve insured any 

inanimate objects answering 

to Wedgewood, Chesterfield 

or Gainsborough, voila! The 

Manor House is now the ‘Party 

House’. 

Should either you or your 

guests’ insurers find you don’t 

have the stomach for hard 

business decisions regarding 

your granny, just add glamping 

in the grounds – pods or cabins 

for year round use or bell tents 

and tipis for the summer. You 

can hire these in from ‘pop up’ 

suppliers. 

There will be an overhead 

for furnishing, cleaning and 

staffing, of course. But by 

offering ‘exclusive use’ you will 

attract an exclusive* clientele. 

(*‘Exclusive’ is used here in 

the old Norse sense of ‘totally 

minted’). 


Q Having invested in a 

permanent events marquee 

at our farm venue, we 

would like to maximise on 

public event opportunities 

throughout the year. What 

should we have on our list? 

Marion, Hampshire 

Good call – get the tent 

A up and screwed to the 

barn. Then you don’t have the 

tiresome job of wrangling tent 

flaps up and down more times 

in a year than you hang out 

washing. 

How to make it pay? 

Obviously there’s parties 

for Christmas, New Year, 

Valentine’s day and Easter. 

There’s craft and hunt parties 

too. But you can ring in the 

changes with other less obvious 

stuff: 

› Why not try a May Day 

celebration for the Morris 

men? Personally, one sip of 

that Morris dancing juice, and 

I’m waving my stick around 

like there’s no tomorrow 

› Summer Solstice – for the 

druids. They like a party that 

lot 

› Halloween zombie parties 

are good but I recommend 

you don’t let any real 

zombies in; they’ll only lower 

the tone. And they’ll scare 

the prentendy zombies, and 

they are the only kind with 

money to spend. 

The equation to always bear 

in mind is this: party = captive 

audience = cash bar plus as 

many up-sells as you can get 

away with! 

PERIWINKLE& CO. 

RURAL ENTREPRENEUR 

CONSULTANCY SERVICES 

If you would like to benefit from 

Periwinkle’s words of wisdom, 

please email your questions to 

info@openairbusiness.com 


Whatever your planning this summer, we’d love to help! 

Call us now and let Versatile 

make your Roadshow, 

Campaign, Exhibition 

or Event truly 

outstanding.

Open Air Business February 2018

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