Open Air Business March 2017

ACCOMMODATION
appeal to different people, and
we have found that everyone has
their favourite. We also wanted the
units to be practical, sustainable
and aesthetically pleasing to
complement the site. Our yurts are
beautifully made with a light and
airy feel, and the log cabin and
amenity building are solid and well
insulated, having been sourced and
built by a local company.
The gypsy wagon was a bit of an
impulse buy, but after spending
time renovating and restoring her
to provide unique and comfortable
accommodation, she has proved
to be a really popular addition to
our site.
Describe how you researched and
sourced your units
We researched many types of
materials for our yurts and log
cabins to enable us to find the
perfect balance of sustainability
with practicality and comfort for our
guests. We chose uninsulated yurts;
they can easily cope with the great
British weather for three seasons
of the year, and we are happy to
take them down over the winter -
sometimes the insulated ones can
smell of wet sheep. We designed
the log cabin ourselves, bearing
in mind that it had to be robust
and insulated to provide all yearround
accommodation without
looking like a garden shed. After
visiting other glamping sites, we
decided it was worth investing
in the amenity building to
offer really good quality
showers, toilets and a
communal kitchen.
How do you publicise yourself?
Richard’s business management
and IT background means that
all of our marketing can be
carried out by us in house. Our
main marketing vehicle is social
media, and we consider it a huge
achievement that our Facebook
page has generated over 20,000
‘likes’. Creating followers by organic
growth on social media is a slow
process at first, but if you have a
really good product with a strong
visual presence, people will talk
about it and tell their friends about
it, and the interest soon snowballs
into an enthusiastic audience. This
means that we have the ability to
specifically target all those who
have already shown a definite
interest with news, articles, and last
minute special offers. We also make
a point of showcasing photographs,
particularly those that have been
sent to us by guests, many of whom
are talented photographers.
Our next biggest source of
bookings is internet searches, and
we do spend time ensuring that
SEO rankings are kept high by
continuously reviewing this data.
We are also lucky to have had some
very favourable publicity by local
and national press, for instance,
being named in the ‘Top 30
Glamping Places to stay in the UK’
in the Sunday Times Supplement
has been brilliant publicity.
How would you describe your
‘style’ or unique selling point?
Acorn Glade offers the ultimate
romantic break, a grown-ups-only
site with wildlife, board games
and no Wi-Fi. This is perhaps an
unusual USP in the age of internet
accessibility, but is emphasised
“ACORN GLADE
OFFERS THE
ULTIMATE
ROMANTIC
BREAK, A
GROWN-
UPS-ONLY
SITE WITH
WILDLIFE,
BOARD GAMES
AND NO WI-FI”
by our mantra ‘Retreat, Relax and
Reconnect’… Retreat to a beautiful
setting for a relaxing glamping
experience to reconnect with nature
and each other. At the heart of our
business is also our commitment
to eco-tourism, sustainability and
conservation. We have worked
really hard to provide a site that
has been described as a ‘Pocket
Paradise’ and ‘Yorkshire’s Hidden
Gem’.
How did you choose your interior
decoration?
The accommodation units are
themed around their names, Poppy,
Daisy, Bluebell and Rose, and it is
Julie’s design flair that has created
a comfortable and outdoorsy
rustic feel with plenty of attention
to detail and unique personal
decorative touches. We try to be as
sustainable as we can, and have
upcycled much of our furniture and
made some great outside pieces
with bits of trees and the pallets on
which the buildings were delivered.