UHY Peninsula case studies - part 3
Every year since 2021, UHY Peninsula has interviewed a selection of clients to showcase some of the great businesses operating across the south west of England. These case studies are divided into four parts. In part three, we feature: ML Transport Ltd, Poole Farm Holidays, Broadley Park Self Storage, Torhill Farm and Tregondale Farm.
If any of these businesses offer a service you could use, why not get in touch with them directly?
And if, after reading these case studies, you spot an opportunity for the UHY Peninsula team to support your business, feel free to reach out - they would be delighted to help.
A three-year working holiday in Canada for Mark and Lena Cowling inspired a new business when they returned to Cornwall.
Having trained as a mechanic and passed his HGV licence, Mark took advantage of these skills in Canada and bought a couple of lorries to carry out general haulage work. During this time, he caught the ‘trucking bug’ and hasn’t looked back since.
From light to heavy goods
Mark and Lena returned to Cornwall in 2011, and soon after, Mark bought his first delivery van. He quickly secured a contract to deliver office supplies across the region, which then became a full-time contract that diversified into office furniture deliveries and installations.
At this stage, Lena worked part-time in the office, overseeing administrative and financial tasks. However, it wasn't long before this became a full-time role, as Mark was offered more delivery work. In 2015, he bought his first UK lorry, which he says he will always keep as a reminder of how it all started.
Mark was the only driver in the early days, but additional drivers were needed as more contracts came through. Today, from their base near Launceston, ML Transport employs nine drivers, including Mark, and they now have a fleet of nine lorries which have replaced the van deliveries they used to offer.
Seizing opportunities
The business has grown massively over the years and continues to do so now. Mark puts this down to taking on new lines of work when the opportunity arises. They provide haulage services for a range of companies, including national and international scrap metal companies. They also distribute local produce across the country and store and transport old BT phone boxes for refurbishment.
One opportunity arose with Rock Solid, another Cornish based company. They specialise in processing Incinerator Bottom Ash (IBA) which is generated by energy from waste plants across the UK and Europe. They also recover high quality metals and aggregate streams from within the IBA itself. ML Transport is responsible for transporting this waste and the resulting metal deposits to processing units across the UK.
Mark and Lena’s latest development is international haulage. They regularly travel to Europe to export and import goods for their clients, and they plan to expand this business in the future.
Sustainable growth to provide for the ‘family’
Mark and Lena intend to keep growing the business and continue assessing the viability of opportunities as they come up. However, they want this growth to be sustainable to keep their drivers busy at all times. They have formed close working relationships with all their drivers and treat them as part of the ML Transport family. In turn, the drivers work hard and take pride in looking after their lorries, most personalising them with different accessories. It’s a passion that pays off, as the company’s trucks are regularly ‘papped’ by trucking enthusiasts who take photos of them from different parts of the country.
Running the business more efficiently
We have worked with ML Transport for over 10 years, preparing its year-end accounts and calculating its tax returns. We also help with payroll queries and have set them up with QuickBooks accounting software.
Mark & Lena said, “The team have always been very helpful, answering our questions as quickly as possible. The support they have given us with QuickBooks has made the bookkeeping process more efficient. This has saved us time, helped us keep on top of our credit control, and given us a better understanding of how the business is doing so we can make better business decisions. We’d definitely recommend them to any other local businesses.”
To learn more about ML Transport, visit their website www.mltransport.co.uk
Since Louise and Greg Holmes bought Poole Farm near St Giles on the Heath in 2015, a lot has changed. At the time, they were looking to create a new lifestyle. With Louise’s background in hospitality, Poole Farm, with its existing B&B and caravan site, offered them the perfect opportunity to put their plans in motion.
Refurbishing, converting and upgrading
The couple soon got to work and fully refurbished the main house, where they operate the B&B. This was followed by converting the adjoining piggery into a two-bedroomed holiday cottage and upgrading the caravan site into a prestigious Caravan Club CL site, which provides five fully serviced pitches, a shower and toilet block, and a convenience store. They have also extended their offering so that the B&B, holiday cottage and caravan site are open all year round.
Their hard work has definitely paid off. They have bookings for all three enterprises throughout the year, many of which are repeat visitors who travel from all over the UK. They have also won many awards over the years and were featured on the BBC’s Escape to the Country as an example of a first-class CL caravan site in the area.
Louise and Greg run the accommodation business and do most of the changeover cleaning, gardening, and maintenance. Louise cooks for the B&B guests and prepares delicious homemade dishes, jams, and chutneys that visitors to the caravan site and cottage can buy from the on-site shop. She is also a director at St Joseph’s School in Launceston. Greg works full-time as an IT computer engineer.
Overcoming tourism-related challenges
Like many tourism businesses in Devon and Cornwall, Louise and Greg have experienced the challenges a slower economy can bring. While a lot of the business comes from former guests and recommendations, they also find that social media has helped generate new customers.
However, they also monitor costs closely. To address their ever-increasing electricity bill, they have installed solar panels at the caravan site and added more in the paddock to help cover the electricity costs of the house and cottage. The solar panels have made a big difference and mean they don’t have to keep passing on high cost increases to their guests.
Approachable and invaluable advice
We have worked with Louise and Greg since 2016. They said, “Over the years, they have provided us with a range of services from doing the accounts and tax returns to giving us detailed advice on furnished holiday lets. They have been instrumental in helping us to identify ways to save money and time, answering any questions quickly and succinctly when we have them.”
To learn more about Poole Farm Holidays, visit their website www.poolefarmholidays.com
Secreted away in the beautiful South Devon countryside is Adrian and Dawn Dayment’s thriving self storage container business.
Broadley Park Self Storage, which started in May 2020 during the height of the Covid pandemic, uses a small corner of Broadley Park Farm. Adrian was the 3rd generation to run the farm, and his son, Richard, now runs it, which has given Adrian and Dawn the opportunity to explore diversification projects.
Simple to run with scalable growth
Before deciding to start the self storage business, Adrian and Dawn gathered feedback from various family, friends and employees. The decision to diversify into the storage business was based on strong local demand from individuals and businesses seeking storage space. As the storage business requires minimal input from Adrian, he has been able to continue helping on the farm and carrying out some agricultural contracting work, while Dawn ensures that all the paperwork, invoicing, and bookkeeping are kept up to date.
Initially, the self storage business consisted of five 20-foot storage containers, and within a couple of weeks, all five containers had been rented out. Today, the storage business has 45 containers, including 43 20-foot containers and 2 10-foot containers, all of which remain fully let.
Whilst there is a lot of competition in the self storage market, Adrian and Dawn are confident that their ability to provide a beneficial and flexible service to customers within a 15-20 mile radius means that their storage containers will always be in demand. Over the next couple of years, they plan to expand their business to 50 containers.
The most effective form of marketing
Unusually for a new business, Broadley Park Self Storage has not had to deploy the typical marketing activities of having a website, social media presence or placing adverts. Instead, from day one, the business has grown through word of mouth referrals from friends and the local community, along with returning customers. The only online channel they have adopted is Google Maps, which helps new customers to find the site.
This low-key approach to marketing has resulted in a constant supply of customers. On average, most people rent a storage container for two years; however, two of their customers have been with them since they started in 2020. Some use it for storage for their business, and some use the facility to store their furniture when they are moving house. Others use it as a temporary stopgap, but the different types of usage mean that Adrian and Dawn can accommodate most customer’s needs.
Using an accountant from out of the area
Adrian and Dawn had been using a local accountant but felt that the firm was not as proactive as it could be in tax planning and reducing their tax liabilities. Their bank manager recommended us, and they moved their personal and business affairs to the Launceston office in 2017. It is a decision they have never regretted. We prepare the business’s annual accounts and calculate and prepare its tax returns, ensuring the correct reliefs and allowances are applied to keep the tax liabilities to a minimum.
Adrian and Dawn said:
“We cannot recommend the team highly enough. We have an excellent relationship with everyone in their office, from the reception staff to the partners. The fact that they are not local to us is not a problem. We have a face-to-face meeting at least once a year, but they always come back to us very promptly through email, text or phone if we have any questions during the year. We also like how they train and develop their younger staff members, so they become experienced accountants. With this strategy, we are confident that our tax and accounting needs will always be met, now and in the future.”
To discuss your storage requirements at Broadley Park Self Storage, please call 07815 310254.
With busy careers spanning coaching, presentation training, art, TV and film production, Barnaby Spurrier and Jill Meager were excited when they bought Torhill Farm on Dartmoor in 2008, their perfect ‘escape’.
They rebuilt the derelict farmhouse and intended to run the 60 acres of beautiful Dartmoor countryside as a hobby. However, as their land regeneration project gathered pace, it became clear that the hobby was fast becoming a business.
From a wilderness to a species-rich habitat
The couple were keen to create an area rich in biodiversity. They have put a lot of effort into creating an environment that allows all aspects of nature to thrive, from grazing the land with local cattle, sheep, and ponies to creating habitats for a vast array of moorland birds, animals and invertebrates, not to mention the development of a range of different plants and grasses, including rare orchids.
Down to business
When they are not enjoying Torhill Farm's wonders, the couple spends much of their time working in their businesses in London or overseas. Barnaby is a filmmaker and producer, which takes him all over the world. He and Jill own ‘Spirit Base’, a business offering Barnaby’s filmmaking services alongside Jill’s expertise in helping people improve their communication and presentation skills. She coaches people on writing and delivering excellent speeches and manages their media appearances. Her clients include mainstream political parties, large corporate businesses and entrepreneurs in the creative and media sectors.
As with any freelancing or small business, the couple recognises that maintaining continuity of work is one of the hardest things to manage when you work for yourself. Running their businesses alongside the farm has at times been a challenge, but it is one they both relish.
Drawing inspiration from the farm
Before starting Spirit Base, Jill was an actor and a stand-up comedian. She appeared in many films, including the Bond film Never Say Never Again. She also starred in the TV dramas Bergerac, Taggart, Hannay, and played the leading role in the ever popular Miss Marple film The 4:50 from Paddington. She has also developed a separate business as a hugely successful wildlife artist - the rich biodiversity surrounding Torhill Farm has provided a superb backdrop from which she creates stunning wildlife drawings.
Creating a valuable resource for the future
While both Barnaby and Jill aim to continue in a similar vein with their respective businesses, they have plans to make further changes to Torhill Farm. Under their stewardship, the farm will always be a regenerative biodiversity site, and they want to use its resources to inspire others, while actively engaging in the East Dartmoor Landscape Recovery Area scheme.
From London to local accountants
When they bought Torhill Farm, Barnaby and Jill were using a London accountancy firm for all their tax and accounting needs. However, running a farm has different tax and accounting requirements than those of normal businesses, and it was recommended that they move to us, as we provide specialist tax knowledge for farms.
Barnaby and Jill said, “The team have given us great advice to help us maximise tax reliefs and allowances. With their guidance, we are now running the farm as a business, not a hobby. And they now handle all our other businesses' accounting and tax needs as well. Their ability to understand farming related issues, alongside that of corporate businesses, has made a big difference to us.”
To find out more about Spirit Base please visit www.spiritbase.com.
You can view and purchase Jill’s wildlife artwork at www.jillmeager.com.
Tregondale Farm at Menheniot near Liskeard has a rich farming heritage. For over 100 years, the Rowes have been farmers, with over half of that time spent at Tregondale.
Richard Rowe and his wife, Helen, are the third generation of Rowes to farm the land and maintain the tradition of it being a family-run farm. They run the farm alongside Richard’s parents, Mervyn and Stephanie. Together, they proudly fly the Tregondale flag, which, over the years, has diversified into different areas to support the family.
Tregondale today consists of 220 acres, with an additional 60 acres they rent. They use the land to support their prize-winning herd of pedigree South Devon cattle and longwool sheep. They also grow their own cereals to be as self-sufficient as possible.
Working hard and spotting opportunities
Mervyn bought Tregondale in 1970. The house was pretty run down, and he and Stephanie needed to generate more income to rebuild it. With Mervyn working full time on the farm, Stephanie created a separate B&B business from the farmhouse - a business venture that the family is proud to continue today.
When Richard left school, he did what he had always wanted: stay at home, work on the farm, and build up the business. The next phase of Tregondale’s expansion was in 1988, with the conversion of an old storage building into a two-bedroomed holiday cottage. Over the years, the family has developed additional attractions on the farm, including creating a games barn, woodland walks and doing guided farm tours to educate guests about farming. Both the holiday cottage and the B&B are busy all year round.
Richard and Helen married in 2001 and now have three grown-up daughters, Charisse, Imogen and Elexis, who help out on the farm when they can. The family plays to each of their strengths and works tirelessly on the farm, B&B, and holiday cottage. However, Richard also provides a contracting service to local individuals and businesses, and Helen works three days a week in admin and finance for the Cornwall Quality Livestock Group.
Adapting to survive
Like many livestock farmers, the Rowes were affected by the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001. They realised that relying on livestock for most of their income made them vulnerable. However, the family rallied around and devised plans to create a new income stream by converting old piggeries into commercial letting units. Stephanie secured European funding, which was available to convert rural buildings into offices, and they did most of the work themselves. They initially had three units, but this has since expanded into four, all of which are fully let.
The future is bright; the future is food
Richard and Helen have been keen to use the latest technology to make running the farm as efficient as possible. This includes using software for electronic tagging and registering their pedigree cattle, as well as QuickBooks accounting software to run the farm accounts. They plan to continue using technology to make their food production more cost effective and efficient. They want to reinvest in the farm’s buildings, machinery, and animals and create an opportunity for their daughters to take on the farm, should they want to.
Helping to save the farm money
The Rowe family has used us for decades. The practice prepares the accounts and tax returns for all the different businesses, as well as individual family members. Richard says, “The team understand farming and has been instrumental in helping us reinvest and diversify when we needed to.
More recently, they have carried out a succession planning exercise to help us guarantee the farm's future. We work closely with them and meet with them several times a year. They have helped us save money and reduce our tax bills, and we consider them part of the Tregondale Team.”
For more information about Tregondale Farm’s B&B and holiday cottage, please visit www.cornishfarmbandb.co.uk
Discover more client success stories
in our UHY Peninsula case studies.
The businesses featured on this page reflect the diverse range of clients we support and the many ways we help them achieve their goals.
Read more about our services and find our contact details on our Launceston page.
