Issue 57

GLAMPSITES
CASE STUDY
Cwtch Cabins
An eco-glampsite in Herefordshire offering four cabins and three huts
We talk to Ruth Rennick
about living a life rich in
experiences at her off-grid
site with a fantasy feel,
and how “the expensive,
protracted nightmare of
torrid times and tears”
(planning permission) is well
and truly behind her.
What’s your back story – your life
before glamping?
My husband James and I have both
worked in the commercial sector,
James mainly in retail and I in data
networking. Children change your
perspective on what is important
in life and, in an attempt to have a
‘lifestyle’ that suited bringing up
children, we spent 14 years living
and working at an historic house
managing the events and estate.
What made you decide to
start offering glamping
accommodation?
We holidayed every year with
the children, mainly camping
and stayed in some wonderful
campsites both in the UK and
in Europe. Come ‘that’ time
of the evening, we are away
somewhere lovely, the children
in bed exhausted from the fresh
air exposure and the wine open.
Each time, the same conversation
would occur. James would say
wistfully “we could do this campsite
lark better than this”. The day
finally came at a clean and clipped
“THE DAY
FINALLY CAME
AT A CLEAN
AND CLIPPED
CAMPSITE
IN NORTH
WALES WHEN
THE PLAN
WAS MADE
TO LOOK FOR
A LOCATION
WHEN WE
RETURNED
FROM
HOLIDAY”
campsite in North Wales when the
plan was made to look for a location
when we returned from holiday.
How did you research the
business before entering it?
Our research on the workings of
campsites was largely done on
a usage basis. We learned what
we liked and what we didn’t like
as campers/customers. From the
‘owner’ perspective, we had lots of
experience in events management
and we completely understood the
catering, cleaning and ‘wearing
every hat’ requirement of running
a campsite – from clearing blocked
drains invisibly while the wedding
party ensued to managing the
logistics of running a three day
outdoor festival and all that entails.
Tell us about your location and site
We looked at campsites to buy in
Somerset, Devon and Cornwall but
also looked hard at the area that
we lived in. We decided that, even
though Herefordshire wasn’t a
traditional ‘destination’ for camping
with no coast and no lakes, that
WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM 29