As we begin a new year we inevitably reflect on the last – and there aren’t many sad to leave 2020 behind. Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdowns forced many aspects of modern life to grind to a dramatic halt. Businesses inevitably suffered and, heartbreakingly, many people lost loved ones.
Many of the challenges have rolled into 2021 but, amidst the wreckage of the pandemic, there have been glimmers of hope. Some rural businesses successfully pivoted overnight, transforming their existing operations to provide something more suited for these uncertain times. When the British public was granted a bit more freedom over the summer, landowners opened new campsites to cater for the upsurge in demand or adapted their holiday accommodation to allow people to visit in a way that felt safe and secure. The space and tranquility offered by the countryside became a refuge for many. And many found themselves in high demand and worked around the clock to provide their products or services to those unable to leave their homes.
Karl Grevatt, the miller at Charlecote Mill in Warwickshire, was inundated with enquiries and orders when panic buying stripped supermarket shelves bare of flour.
Meeting demand
The mill dates back to 1728 and now operates daily with Karl at the helm, supported by volunteers.
“I quickly had an eight-week waiting list, which equated to about 400 customers,” he said. “Before lockdown I was milling about 10 tonnes of wheat every two months. During lockdown I was milling the same amount in just two to three weeks.”
Karl’s usual band of volunteers were mostly classified as vulnerable, meaning that he was left to fulfil orders on his own, with some help from his partner and one remaining volunteer.
“Every day, milling would take around six hours and then I would deliver flour to customers in the local area for around 3-3.5 hours,” he said. “Then I would go home to more than 100 emails! It was crazy.”
Karl hopes that some of the new customers they helped during lockdown will carry on supporting the mill but accepts this isn’t guaranteed.
“When the big mills couldn’t supply flour, everyone found their traditional mills up and down the country, and those people worked really hard to make these ancient mills work,” he said. “I hope people will carry on supporting them because without that they can’t run and would eventually fall apart.”
Welcoming holidaymakers
Owners of holiday accommodation have been badly hit by lockdowns but inundated by bookings when restrictions have been lifted.
Fiona Ellwood, who owns The Yurt at Hollands Farmhouse near Dorchester, says they were fully booked for the summer within five days of the first set of restrictions lifting last summer.
“I think we were popular because we are so isolated,” she said. “We received 10 enquiries a day, every day, during the summer and we definitely had guests we wouldn’t usually have had.
“We are usually fully booked anyway, however we’ve managed to increase our prices and enforce a minimum three night stay rather than two nights. For us it’s been about working smarter, rather than working harder.”
“We’ve managed to increase our prices and enforce a minimum three night stay”
Positive pivoting
Many were not able to continue running their existing businesses, facing hardship unless they quickly acted. One such operation was Shropshire Petals, which has been producing confetti from its fields of flowers for 15 years.
With most weddings postponed or significantly scaled back, helping their existing customers through this tough time was the team’s first focus.
“A lot of our couples order their wedding confetti ahead of time, so, as soon as the first lockdown came into place and weddings were cancelled, we contacted anyone that had a wedding during that period and offered to delay their dispatch free of charge,” said Ashley Evers-Swindell, Marketing Manager for Shropshire Petals. “We developed extra features on our website, so couples could change their wedding date online themselves, giving them more flexibility. It was heartbreaking to talk to so many of our customers who were having to postpone a day they had been planning for months or even years.”
The team then turned its attention towards other potential uses for their confetti. “We’ve known our petals have been used for funerals in the past, to gently scatter over the coffin, but it wasn’t until one of our own lost her grandmother back in July that we developed new packaging to elegantly celebrate the life of someone who had recently passed,” Ashley said. “Understanding what others might be going through and wanting to give a good send-off was the catalyst for our personalised memorial petal packets.”
This rollercoaster year gave Shropshire Petals the chance to try new things and respond to their customers’ need during the uncertain times, such as things to do at home during lockdown, and gifts to send to loved ones when they couldn’t see each other. “We developed new products like our DIY candle kits, and dried flower letterbox bouquets,” she said. “The trend for dried flowers exploded this year and, while we’ve been growing and selling dried flowers for over 30 years, 2020 gave us the opportunity to try something new.
“We’re firm believers that every day is a learning day and that it’s better to try something and fail, than not try it all. 2020 has reinforced this ethos, and we’ve learnt that we can pivot and react to what our customers need quickly, and that it’s OK not to know all the answers.”
Customer trends
Giving customers what they need is something that supermarkets specialise in, but even they have had to think on their feet and react to the changing landscape this year.
“We’ve learnt that we can pivot and react to what our customers need quickly”
James Bailey, Executive Director at Waitrose, said: “Our daily rituals, our attitudes towards supermarkets and the way we shop have been fundamentally reshaped by the pandemic. These changes are here to stay. The ‘new normal’ that we all spoke about back in the spring isn’t new anymore. It’s just normal.”
The Waitrose Food and Drink Report 2021 reveals that more than half of us value food more than we did pre-Covid and 55% reported a permanent shift in their spending habits.
Some other findings will be of particular interest to rural business, including the revelation that nearly three quarters of people want to see more food businesses in the UK express their ongoing support for local British producers.
“Nearly three quarters of people want to see more food businesses in the UK express their ongoing support for local British producers.”
Indeed, an emphasis on localism runs through the report, which found that nearly 30% of car owners have reduced, or plan to reduce the number of cars in their household. Two thirds of people got involved with their local communities over lockdown and plan to continue.
But while there is a distinct shift towards local living, this runs alongside an increasing reliance on the internet. Consumers may not want or be able to venture far, but that doesn't mean they don’t want to access the wider world from inside the comfort of their own homes.
Almost 40% reported becoming more tech-savvy, with a quarter of respondents having shopped online for food for the first time this year and nearly half going entirely cashless during the pandemic, with the intention to carry on.
Tell your story
Those businesses that have successfully navigated their way through the pandemic will no doubt be wondering how they can retain their new customers as restrictions ease. Experts agree that the internet’s place in modern life is now so fundamental that embracing technology is an absolute must if businesses are going to survive and thrive.
The CLA’s Chief Surveyor, Andrew Shirley, believes the internet will play an even greater role as people become more used to using it for everyday purchases.
“So, do you just sit back and let Amazon take everything, or do you get out there and show everyone that you have a quality product?” he said.
“Yes, you can sell locally but there is a limit to how much high-quality cheese, for instance, you can sell to people within a 20-mile radius.
“If you can establish an internet presence, you can tell your story to the rest of the country. Be proactive – if you stand still you haven't got much of a story to tell but if you're developing products, or have different things talk about, then suddenly you have a story to tell that is constantly changing.
“If you can establish an internet presence, you can tell your story to the rest of the country.”
“This is why the CLA has always been enthusiastic about the need for better and faster fibre, but also getting people’s skills up to make the most out of the internet.”
Domestic travel
Mr Shirley also believes that demand for foreign holidays will inevitably rise once travel abroad is safer and well-regulated, but that many will think twice.
“I think more people will consider staying at home, so we need to think about how we attract them, so that, when they are wavering, they remember that there is so much of the UK they haven’t seen,” he said.
“We have been leading the charge for a permanent reduction in VAT for holiday businesses, to make us more competitive with the cheaper offerings elsewhere.
“The industry is going to have to rise to the challenge, but I hope the taste of having a good holiday in the UK this year will make people realise they don’t want to go abroad.”
Megan Allen, Director of Rural Roots Media and editor of The Rural Travel Guide, believes that 2020 has done the rural tourism sector a huge favour.
“Our rural areas are spacious, safe, beautiful and inspirational. Now that we have a wider captive market, it's important to keep emphasising those messages to encourage domestic travellers to come back time and again,” she said.
"Utilising the media is a key factor in building relationships with visitors – whether it's through social media or wider public relations campaigns, remember people buy from people, so step out from behind the camera and
tell your story."
“Utilising the media is a key factor in building relationships with visitors.”
“People buy from people, so step out from behind the camera and tell your story.”
Stephen Richards, Associate Partner at Carter Jonas who heads up sales of leisure facilities across the UK, says the sector looks set to continue benefiting from an uplift in domestic tourism.
Figures for the 2021 season already look extremely encouraging as holidaymakers anticipate further restrictions and plan ahead.
“Many people booked well ahead for this year because demand was so high.”
As a result, purchasing a leisure property has become an exciting investment opportunity – and Stephen believes there has never been a better time for those considering selling up.
“I would estimate that 80% of buyers interested in purchasing leisure properties are looking to make a big lifestyle change – emboldened by the Stamp Duty holiday and reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic – most are searching for a business that will give them an idyllic lifestyle while also providing an income.”
Stephen, who has worked in the industry since 1997, believes that the leisure property market is currently in the best shape he’s ever seen it.
“I’ve seen many ups and downs over the past 20 years – from foot-and-mouth disease to the credit crunch,” he explains. “Right now, the market is as good as I’ve ever known it. The demand for staycations has never been higher.”
How rural entrepreneurs
are rising to the challenge of Covid-19
How rural entrepreneurs
are rising to the challenge of Covid-19
As we begin a new year we inevitably reflect on the last – and there aren’t many sad to leave 2020 behind. Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdowns forced many aspects of modern life to grind to a dramatic halt. Businesses inevitably suffered and, heartbreakingly, many people lost loved ones.
Many of the challenges have rolled into 2021 but, amidst the wreckage of the pandemic, there have been glimmers of hope. Some rural businesses successfully pivoted overnight, transforming their existing operations to provide something more suited for these uncertain times. When the British public was granted a bit more freedom over the summer, landowners opened new campsites to cater for the upsurge in demand or adapted their holiday accommodation to allow people to visit in a way that felt safe and secure. The space and tranquility offered by the countryside became a refuge for many. And many found themselves in high demand and worked around the clock to provide their products or services to those unable to leave their homes.
Meeting demand
Karl Grevatt, the miller at Charlecote Mill in Warwickshire, was inundated with enquiries and orders when panic buying stripped supermarket shelves bare of flour.
The mill dates back to 1728 and now operates daily with Karl at the helm, supported by volunteers.
“I quickly had an eight-week waiting list, which equated to about 400 customers,” he said. “Before lockdown I was milling about 10 tonnes of wheat every two months. During lockdown I was milling the same amount in just two to three weeks.”
Karl’s usual band of volunteers were mostly classified as vulnerable, meaning that he was left to fulfil orders on his own, with some help from his partner and one remaining volunteer.
“Every day, milling would take around six hours and then I would deliver flour to customers in the local area for around 3-3.5 hours,” he said. “Then I would go home to more than 100 emails! It was crazy.”
Karl hopes that some of the new customers they helped during lockdown will carry on supporting the mill but accepts this isn’t guaranteed.
“When the big mills couldn’t supply flour, everyone found their traditional mills up and down the country, and those people worked really hard to make these ancient mills work,” he said. “I hope people will carry on supporting them because without that they can’t run and would eventually fall apart.”
Welcoming holidaymakers
Owners of holiday accommodation have been badly hit by lockdowns but inundated by bookings when restrictions have been lifted.
Fiona Ellwood, who owns The Yurt at Hollands Farmhouse near Dorchester, says they were fully booked for the summer within five days of the first set of restrictions lifting last summer.
“I think we were popular because we are so isolated,” she said. “We received 10 enquiries a day, every day, during the summer and we definitely had guests we wouldn’t usually have had.
“We’ve managed to increase our prices and enforce a minimum three night stay”
“We are usually fully booked anyway, however we’ve managed to increase our prices and enforce a minimum three night stay rather than two nights. For us it’s been about working smarter, rather than working harder.”
Positive pivoting
Many were not able to continue running their existing businesses, facing hardship unless they quickly acted. One such operation was Shropshire Petals, which has been producing confetti from its fields of flowers for 15 years.
With most weddings postponed or significantly scaled back, helping their existing customers through this tough time was the team’s first focus.
“A lot of our couples order their wedding confetti ahead of time, so, as soon as the first lockdown came into place and weddings were cancelled, we contacted anyone that had a wedding during that period and offered to delay their dispatch free of charge,” said Ashley Evers-Swindell, Marketing Manager for Shropshire Petals. “We developed extra features on our website, so couples could change their wedding date online themselves, giving them more flexibility. It was heartbreaking to talk to so many of our customers who were having to postpone a day they had been planning for months or even years.”
The team then turned its attention towards other potential uses for their confetti. “We’ve known our petals have been used for funerals in the past, to gently scatter over the coffin, but it wasn’t until one of our own lost her grandmother back in July that we developed new packaging to elegantly celebrate the life of someone who had recently passed,” Ashley said. “Understanding what others might be going through and wanting to give a good send-off was the catalyst for our personalised memorial petal packets.”
This rollercoaster year gave Shropshire Petals the chance to try new things and respond to their customers’ need during the uncertain times, such as things to do at home during lockdown, and gifts to send to loved ones when they couldn’t see each other. “We developed new products like our DIY candle kits, and dried flower letterbox bouquets,” she said. “The trend for dried flowers exploded this year and, while we’ve been growing and selling dried flowers for over 30 years, 2020 gave us the opportunity to try something new.
“We’ve learnt that we can pivot and react to what our customers need quickly”
“We’re firm believers that every day is a learning day and that it’s better to try something and fail, than not try it all. 2020 has reinforced this ethos, and we’ve learnt that we can pivot and react to what our customers need quickly, and that it’s OK not to know all the answers.”
Customer trends
Giving customers what they need is something that supermarkets specialise in, but even they have had to think on their feet and react to the changing landscape this year.
James Bailey, Executive Director at Waitrose, said: “Our daily rituals, our attitudes towards supermarkets and the way we shop have been fundamentally reshaped by the pandemic. These changes are here to stay. The ‘new normal’ that we all spoke about back in the spring isn’t new anymore. It’s just normal.”
The Waitrose Food and Drink Report 2021 reveals that more than half of us value food more than we did pre-Covid and 55% reported a permanent shift in their spending habits.
“Nearly three quarters of people want to see more food businesses in the UK express their ongoing support for local British producers.”
Some other findings will be of particular interest to rural business, including the revelation that nearly three quarters of people want to see more food businesses in the UK express their ongoing support for local British producers.
Indeed, an emphasis on localism runs through the report, which found that nearly 30% of car owners have reduced, or plan to reduce the number of cars in their household. Two thirds of people got involved with their local communities over lockdown and plan to continue.
But while there is a distinct shift towards local living, this runs alongside an increasing reliance on the internet. Consumers may not want or be able to venture far, but that doesn't mean they don’t want to access the wider world from inside the comfort of their own homes.
Almost 40% reported becoming more tech-savvy, with a quarter of respondents having shopped online for food for the first time this year and nearly half going entirely cashless during the pandemic, with the intention to carry on.
Tell your story
Those businesses that have successfully navigated their way through the pandemic will no doubt be wondering how they can retain their new customers as restrictions ease. Experts agree that the internet’s place in modern life is now so fundamental that embracing technology is an absolute must if businesses are going to survive and thrive.
The CLA’s Chief Surveyor, Andrew Shirley, believes the internet will play an even greater role as people become more used to using it for everyday purchases.
“So, do you just sit back and let Amazon take everything, or do you get out there and show everyone that you have a quality product?” he said.
“Yes, you can sell locally but there is a limit to how much high-quality cheese, for instance, you can sell to people within a 20-mile radius.
“If you can establish an internet presence, you can tell your story to the rest of the country. Be proactive – if you stand still you haven't got much of a story to tell but if you're developing products, or have different things talk about, then suddenly you have a story to tell that is constantly changing.
“This is why the CLA has always been enthusiastic about the need for better and faster fibre, but also getting people’s skills up to make the most out of the internet.”
“If you can establish an internet presence, you can tell your story to the rest of the country.”
Domestic travel
Mr Shirley also believes that demand for foreign holidays will inevitably rise once travel abroad is safer and well-regulated, but that many will think twice.
“I think more people will consider staying at home, so we need to think about how we attract them, so that, when they are wavering, they remember that there is so much of the UK they haven’t seen,” he said.
“We have been leading the charge for a permanent reduction in VAT for holiday businesses, to make us more competitive with the cheaper offerings elsewhere.
“The industry is going to have to rise to the challenge, but I hope the taste of having a good holiday in the UK this year will make people realise they don’t want to go abroad.”
Megan Allen, Director of Rural Roots Media and editor of The Rural Travel Guide, believes that 2020 has done the rural tourism sector a huge favour.
“Utilising the media is a key factor in building relationships with visitors.”
“Our rural areas are spacious, safe, beautiful and inspirational. Now that we have a wider captive market, it's important to keep emphasising those messages to encourage domestic travellers to come back time and again,” she said.
"Utilising the media is a key factor in building relationships with visitors – whether it's through social media or wider public relations campaigns, remember people buy from people, so step out from behind the camera and
tell your story."
“People buy from people, so step out from behind the camera and tell your story.”
Stephen Richards, Associate Partner at Carter Jonas who heads up sales of leisure facilities across the UK, says the sector looks set to continue benefiting from an uplift in domestic tourism.
Figures for the 2021 season already look extremely encouraging as holidaymakers anticipate further restrictions and plan ahead.
“Many people booked well ahead for this year because demand was so high.”
As a result, purchasing a leisure property has become an exciting investment opportunity – and Stephen believes there has never been a better time for those considering selling up.
“I would estimate that 80% of buyers interested in purchasing leisure properties are looking to make a big lifestyle change – emboldened by the Stamp Duty holiday and reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic – most are searching for a business that will give them an idyllic lifestyle while also providing an income.”
Stephen, who has worked in the industry since 1997, believes that the leisure property market is currently in the best shape he’s ever seen it.
“I’ve seen many ups and downs over the past 20 years – from foot-and-mouth disease to the credit crunch,” he explains. “Right now, the market is as good as I’ve ever known it. The demand for staycations has never been higher.”
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