Open Air Business April 2017
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glampsites, festivals and outdoor events
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glampsites, festivals and outdoor events
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a clear day, the Exmoor Hills and<br />
coastline, and Rampisham Down in<br />
Dorset.<br />
How did you tackle getting<br />
planning?<br />
The actual planning permission<br />
was not difficult, the challenge<br />
came with getting approval from<br />
the Highways Department. From<br />
initially submitting plans to<br />
obtaining permission was a period<br />
of more than 18 months.<br />
We obtained permission to<br />
locate three huts on-site and, after<br />
completing the first hut, we decided<br />
to alter the location of the second<br />
and third hut sites. This decision<br />
was made so that the location of<br />
the first hut was not compromised.<br />
What glamping accommodation<br />
do you offer and why did you<br />
choose it?<br />
We have two shepherd’s huts, Len<br />
and Ted. Len was designed and<br />
built by hand in-situ, whereas we<br />
purchased Ted to our specification<br />
then created the interior. Both<br />
“FOR US, IT<br />
HELPED THAT<br />
JULIE HAD<br />
EXPERIENCE<br />
AS A PROFESS-<br />
IONAL IN THE<br />
CONSTRUCTION<br />
INDUSTRY,<br />
SO WE DID<br />
NOT HAVE<br />
TO RELY ON<br />
CONSULTANTS”<br />
huts offer luxury glamping<br />
accommodation, and the newer<br />
hut ‘Ted’ enables guests to have a<br />
real retreat as it is off-grid without<br />
power points (although you can<br />
charge your e-book reader and<br />
gadgets through USB charging<br />
points). Both huts have modern<br />
comforts such as an en-suite<br />
shower, flushing toilet, fitted<br />
kitchen, and a luxury mattress<br />
supplied with all the bed linen and<br />
duvet, as well as eco wood-fired hot<br />
tubs. ‘Ted’ also has an outside oven.<br />
I chose shepherd’s huts because<br />
I love the look of them and the<br />
idea of compact living. We have<br />
managed to fit a lot into our huts.<br />
Describe how you researched and<br />
sourced your units<br />
When ‘Len’ was built, there were<br />
only a handful of shepherd hut<br />
manufacturers, and we visited<br />
them all. We wanted to create an<br />
en-suite hut, which wasn’t available<br />
at the time, which is why we built<br />
‘Len’ ourselves. Our hut supplier,<br />
Blackdown Shepherd Huts, was a<br />
relatively new company at the time,<br />
but they helped us to self-build one<br />
of the first 18ft huts in the country.<br />
How do you publicise yourself?<br />
Since opening our first hut, we have<br />
enjoyed coverage in publications<br />
such as Somerset Life, West Country<br />
Life, Conde Naste Traveller, the<br />
London Evening Standard, and The<br />
Times. We advertise on a number<br />
of glamping websites and have our<br />
own website. We use social media<br />
(Facebook, Twitter and Instagram)<br />
to share news and images with our<br />
followers. We also have leaflets<br />
which are displayed in local venues.<br />
Recently, we have begun<br />
advertising in wedding fayre<br />
programmes, as weddings,<br />
honeymoons and anniversaries are<br />
a key market for us. In fact, we have<br />
had another engagement occur<br />
during a stay in the past month.<br />
How would you describe your<br />
‘style’ or unique selling point?<br />
We offer a real retreat from the<br />
modern world. Our huts offer<br />
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