Customer Story: Cwtch Cabins

One of the many things that we love at Clarkes Solutions, is having the opportunity partner up with unique and innovative businesses to help their business concepts expand. We have had the pleasure of working with Cwtch Cabins, opening in Much Marcle for Spring 2020, who have successfully optimized their storage organization and efficiency with the use of a double-container storage model.

Ruth and James, owners of Cwtch Cabins were inspired to make their sustainable campsite concept come to life in 2013, whilst holidaying with plans to climb Snowdon with their three children. After staying at a campsite on their getaway, they decided that running a campsite, that would promote and educate people on traditional, sustainable permaculture, would be something that they would love to do!

"We aim to enhance the quality of people’s lives through outdoor recreation, food production, leisure, encouraging activity and educational experiences."

Cwtch Cabins

In need of a quiet, picturesque space to reconnect with nature? Cwtch Cabins has pretty much hit the nail on the head with their Hereford-based get-away-haven retreat! Ever heard of glamorous camping or more commonly known as ‘glamping’? It’s camping without the hassle of having to pitch a tent, pack cooking utensils and haul it all into the boot of your car at the end of your trip.

This retreat is the perfect idyllic glamping spot based in Herefordshire that offers visitors a modern twist on the traditional camping experience, completely stress-free and fun for the family- particularly for families with small children. Aiming to create a small, biodiverse, horticultural and rural campsite with temporary dwelling, all sustainably developed using permaculture principles; Cwtch saw the opportunity to create Much Marcle's stand-alone 4.5 acre camping facility. The site was carefully chosen, adjacent to the edge of the village and one mile from the village centre. There is also bus route through Much Marcle towards the site or it can be walked/cycled to as it is in close proximity of the village.

Maintaining the beauty of this rural treat has taken careful consideration, energy, time and effort in order to be sure that visitors can enjoy the beauty of rural Hereford. However this did not come with ease initially. Ensuring that appropriate gardening and maintenance tools were stored in a convenient and organised space, in order to save time and energy when trying to transport necessary maintenance materials, proved to be a obstacle in the company's growth.

"Everything with Clarkes was great, and easy. Marcin made my purchase easy and interpreted my non-tech speak beautifully. The chaps who delivered and installed the unit were super and very able." - Cwtch Cabins

Efficiency was key to nurturing the gorgeous agrarian landscapes which is where we saw an opportunity to help Cwtch Cabins to achieve this. We understand as a construction-oriented enterprise, that each business that we have the pleasure of working with, have their own specific criteria to accommodate their project.

Ruth from Cwtch Cabins wrote in her website blog post that we ‘were happy to accommodate with any changes and are flexible. The delivery guys were super too. Happy customer!’.

Ensuring that their storage facilities fit the dimensions and space required, in order to effectively store Cwtch’s tools for organisational purposes, resulted in less time wasted on trundling equipment back and forth between the site and the original, poorly located tool storage. The beauty of the shipping container storage during the building process of the campsite also offers multi-functionality. Our customers have decided to utilise the container as a functioning workshop for campsite maintenance instead ofonly using the space for tool storage, making the most out of their investment.

'From start to finish all was timely and professional. Very happy customer.' - Cwtch Cabins

The Future for Cwtch Cabins

It is envisaged to be a stockless land parcel (with the exception of few free range hens) a horticultural enterprise growing vegetables and other plants. A year-round campsite with excellent yet simple facilities, encouraging visitors to take away with them some principles of permaculture and sustainability. Cwtch aims to enhance the quality of people’s lives through outdoor recreation, food production, leisure, encouraging activity and educational experiences; with plans to achieve this whilst respecting the character of the countryside by building in a sustainable, low impact manner and operating the campsite within this ethos!

The ‘Hub Room’: This is envisaged to be many things, a reception, workroom, classroom, office, an information point, a tea room and social common room area. There will be a ‘camp kitchen’ for cooking andwashing up in inclement weather and also socialising. In addition, an amenities building with hot showers and toilets.

5 Shepherd’s Huts: all cabins and Shepherd’s Huts to have PV electricity supply) and 10 tent pitches. No pitch is to have mains electricity, water or drainage.The land is to be used as a permaculture garden providing food, education, social interaction and employment as well as sustainable tourism.

Camp Kitchen: For cooking, washing up and socialising during inclement weather, this will be a essential part of the campsite to ensure a communal source of comfort. Additionally, an amenities building with hot showers and toilets will also be available on the site for Cwtch campers.

Promoting Sustainable Tourism

The sustainable tourism industry provides educational lifestyle insights on how we can improve our often wasteful, harmful habits that we have formed in urban living. Breaking away from conventional patterns of behaviour and educating ourselves on gardening and farming, conserving energy and enjoying the countryside whilst respecting the rural environment, could be the perfect getaway that Cwtch aims to share with its visitors.

Traditional Shed Vs Shipping Container Storage

We have a SHED-load of reasons why it may be a smarter business decision to choose cargo-container storage space over the traditional shed storage option, not only for the Cwtch Cabins glamping start-up but for all businesses.

Security

Firstly and most importantly, ensuring that the tools and materials that are a vital part of your livelihood are safe and secure from those who may see the opportunity to steal from your business should be a priority.

Safe storage is definitely a worthwhile investment when considering which style of storage would be the smarter option. Even though the traditional shed appears more cost-effective, it’s reduced security could potentially cost your business in the future. By opting for the cargo-container, you will be reducing the risk of losing important resources to potential theft. Secure storage space is an excellent crisis management solution for small, potentially vulnerable businesses. ‘Prepare for the worst, but always expect the best’ for your business!

Durability

The beauty of the Cwtch Cabins’ rural glamping havens does however have its stormy periods, as does all business. Ensuring that your maintenance resources are stored away in a durable, anti-condensation painted weather-resistant space is key to saving money in potential weather-damage situations- particularly if your business is prone to flooding. Even the highest of quality shed storage spaces have high flooding risks. Very similar to the security aspect, protecting your investments by making smart investments is a priority. To quote billionaire investment advisor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett:

“Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing.”

If you can predict and prepare for future catastrophes, this will significantly reduce costs in the long-term. ‘Price is what you pay, value is what you get’.

Portability

The main issue that was faced by Cwtch Cabins, that encouraged them to reach out to us, was the difficulty that they had with transporting materials and tools from their initial storage space to the locations that required maintenance. The beauty of the shipping container is in its name- its portability. Being able to transport the container around site when working on different elements of the site is a desirable quality for businesses that are aiming to keep on expanding, onwards and upwards!

With the traditional shed, the assembly is often pretty permanent unless you want to manually clear out the space, dis-assemble, transport and then rebuild. The hassle of this isn’t just an inconvenience but it is also not the most time-effective efficient method if you are aiming to continue expanding.

Expandability

We’ve never heard of a shed expansion and this is because the structural design of the traditional shed is primarily designed for household/personal gardening use, therefore it is not equipped to expand with the growth of the business. With Clarkes Solutions, we can repurpose and expand shipping containers to fit your exact dimensional requirements between 4ft to 45ft in length. Adjoining container options are also a popular choice to fit your ever-expanding business at a cost-effective price!

Thank you so much to the Cwtch Cabin team for choosing us for your first campsite instalment! You can read their blog post and view their website here and we definitely recommend checking them out if you are in need of an unconventional idyllic getaway!