In a secluded and leafy valley in the heart of the Blackdown Hills, East Devon, Tracey Bell and her husband have lovingly restored and breathed new life into a collection of old farm buildings. Now it is the charming home of Tracey’s school of heritage arts and crafts, providing a rural retreat for anyone wanting to learn traditional skills.
The Old Kennels is a multi-award winning tourist destination offering a broad and impressive range of classes and courses. Making the most of the stunning environment, Tracey has created an inspiring collection of studios and creative spaces that are now used for the courses. Silversmithing, stone carving, wood working, drawing, painting, millinery, trug making, bronze casting; the list goes on. Tracey’s business is very well established and highly regarded amongst the national craft community.
Tracey felt inspired to start the business having enjoyed attending similar courses in the past. She particularly “enjoyed the escapism of doing something completely different, using your hands, doing something physical, with a real result at the end of the day”. For Tracey and her customers, the craft school is about two things: firstly it exists to preserve heritage crafts skills, “passing them on and keeping them alive for future generations”. Secondly, the very nature of the workshops provides a much-needed form of therapy and wellbeing for people. Tracey sees The Old Kennels as a retreat for people needing to get some time away. She recognises that “people need people; it’s about learning and being with other like-minded people, escaping from everyday issues”.
As a small rural business, The Old Kennels therefore offers a community benefit, both for local people, the local tourism industry, and for the enjoyment of customers from far and wide. Like so many other self-employed people, Tracey has found it hard to source funding, and is always grateful when free business support is available. Fortunately for Tracey, the Growth Support Programme was able to fulfil that need. Funded by the ERDF and delivered across the Heart of South West LEP, SMEs are able to access free business support, including Cosmic’s Digital Business Diagnostic. Matt from Cosmic visited The Old Kennels and talked Tracey through many of the enhancements that she could make to her digital marketing and website SEO. The advice and guidance is fact based, shines a light on some of the short-comings of the business’ website, and gave Tracey some “tough-love” with regards to the steps she could take.
Tracey has also benefited from further Cosmic training provided by the Enhancing Productivity East Devon project (EDEP), with further digital advice from Kate Doodson. “It’s hard to see your own business sometimes and get some perspective on the things that you are doing”, which is why Tracey was grateful for the guidance from Cosmic, the Growth Support Programme and EDEP. She now aims to boost sales with new customers and reach new audiences through improved digital marketing. “London and other cities are teeming with younger people who have a real appetite to get away and learn new skills”. We know that her passion will lead to her continued success.