Issue 60

GLAMPSITES
planning application. This time
the whole experience ruined
Christmas as the cabin was one
third of our income at the time
and we’d spent a lot of time and
money building it; having to take
it down would have destroyed our
business permanently. Another
few thousand pounds later, and
after a few ruined months of our
lives, the council decided we could
keep the cabin and still have six
yurts as we were now an asset to
the national park.
How did you finance the project?
We didn’t put any money into the
business, or rather we couldn’t
because it was all going to the
planning department. When we got
hit with a retrospective business
rates bill we nearly threw in the
towel. But they reconsidered this.
We didn’t take out any loans
and every grant application
failed. Instead, we rolled over the
earnings each year to purchase a
new yurt until we had six and the
cabin. This meant we took home
zero pay for the first three years. In
the fourth year we were definitely
in profit.
In the early years we did almost
everything ourselves and that
worked well with our then young
sons. As the business grew, we
started employing seasonal help
using a professional linen service,
we also started a Biffa contract and
invested in EV quads so we could
deliver wood to guests without
noise. Our two sons have always
helped too.
We’re open from April through
to October. Our USPs are no
electricity on site, no flushing
toilets (except at the farm
entrance) and privacy; the yurts
are far apart. We mainly attract
couples, young families and family
reunions. All guests have vast
amounts of private space sheltered
amongst mature trees.
What occupancy levels and price
per night do you achieve?
We are generally about £200 per
night with a two or three night
minimum. Our brand is about
nature, habitat and understanding
that humans are guest animals in
these woods. We want our guests
to learn about nature and we
provide outdoor skills and nature
instructors who offer bespoke
workshops for individual guests/
groups.
How did you work out your
brand and how do you publicise
yourself?
We publicise ourselves mainly on
listings directories like Cool Stays
and take 90% of our bookings
direct via our own website. Most
of our bookings are commissionfree.
The other 10% is Canopy &
Stars, who we have been with since
they started in 2012. Originally all
bookings were through Canopy
& Stars because we didn’t have
a website, booking system or
payment gateway. We don’t use
any of the big portals and generally
operate by word-of-mouth and
people just finding us on Google.
This is important because we
are a niche market and we don’t
want guests getting third-party
information which is often
incorrect or confusing.
How would you describe your
ethos?
Our ethos is important to us. We
run Adhurst Yurts like a monastery
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