Farmhouse B&B cashes in on staycations

Published on Saturday 28 January 2012 03:48

Long recognised as a useful extra source of income for some farms, the provision of bed and breakfast or self catering premises has been given a boost with the current recession hitting overseas travel.

Speaking in Inverness yesterday, Andy Woodward, chief executive of Farm Stay, a co-operative with more than 1,000 members throughout the UK, said there had been quite a shift to “stay-at-home” holidays.

He added that another factor helping the home tourism business was the fact that many 20-30-year-olds were beginning to appreciate their own country after years of being taken on holidays abroad. “We have a whole generation who want to find out more about their own country,” he said.

Woodward was speaking at a business breakfast event to highlight Farmhouse Breakfasts, a campaign which has been running all week. He said that a recent survey had shown a large percentage of visitors to farm-based B&B businesses made favourable comments about the first meal of the day.

“It ticks so many boxes nowadays. The food is local and it is very traceable with many of the businesses having hens,” he added.

For those operating such businesses as the one at Leanach, Inverness, which is run by Roseanne MacKay, he said one of the big benefits was it could help the cashflow of a farm. This was especially true on livestock farms, where often the income comes at one time of the year whereas B&B income was spread out over 12 months.

Also linked in to the Farmhouse Breakfast week, a survey carried out by the Home Grown Cereals Authority has highlighted the fact that the farming community still adhere to starting the day with a set breakfast.

Less than 10 per cent of those who responded stated they avoided breakfast, with 83 per cent saying they sat down at the table to have breakfast. The remainder responded by saying they ate breakfast either at the office desk or out on the farm

The significance of this, according to Karen Levy of the HGCA, is that not only did it recognise the importance of breakfast in maintaining a healthy lifestyle but it also provided the fuel needed to get through a busy working day.

And in economic terms, with around 90 per cent of UK grown cereals going into a range of food products from bread and porridge to bacon and eggs, the breakfast plate represents a significant market for arable farmers, she said.

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