Camping & Caravan Park Blooms with Financial Boost
- Marta Macialek
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
After a life-changing 630 mile walk along the Southwest Coastal Path in 2021, John and Katie Houghton founded The Grange Camping & Caravan Park to curate their vision of making a peaceful and tranquil camping spot overlooking the Wreake Valley.
Funded by Start Up Loans
£25,000 boost towards:
Construction of new hard standing pitches
Offering a Yurt glamping experience
Region: Leicestershire
What inspired you to start your business?
The main inspiration came from when we did an epic walk in 2021. Over 10 weeks we walked along the Southwest Coastal Path with our small dog, Bramble. We stayed in a different place every night for the entire trip and it really inspired us to do what we’re doing now.
It gave us ideas for what we wanted to do and not do, and I think that’s brought that attention to detail into what we’ve delivered here with the help of British Business Bank.
What challenges did you face, and how did the loan help?
Finance was a big part of it. If you don’t have the money, how can a business grow or even develop? So, that was definitely very challenging, but we kept on to that hope of our dream. We would not have been able to do that without the help of First Enterprise and our Investment Manager, Inderpal, so that’s really helped. And the feedback from our customers has been fantastic.
What did you use the funding for?
The funding helped us create six additional fully serviced, hard standing pitches and a Mongolian Yurt, which we believe with our recent research is the only one in Leicestershire. It allowed us to install a road to the pitches; it was just a grass field before. And we also managed to open two weeks early as well.
What has been the biggest lesson along your start-up journey?
When you’re starting out in business, I think it’s really important to get the best possible advice, it saves any expensive mistakes. It’s easy to get carried away in a wave of excitement and entrepreneurial-ship, and sometimes you just need to stand and listen to what professional people are telling you.
And while it can be very challenging at times, it’s also important to stay positive and believe in what you want to make happen.
Additional comments from the Co-Founders and our Advisor
“At times it was challenging but Inderpal from First Enterprise was always on hand to ease the way forward. He took us through the step-by-step process of achieving our loan, throughout, with patience and kind consideration – always available at the end of the phone without any protracted phone connections.
The loan helped us to fund the construction of new attractions and pitches on site, which will increase our visitor capacity and their experiences.”
Comment John and Katie Houghton, Co-Founders of The Grange
“It was a pleasure supporting John and Katie on their journey to expand The Grange. Their passion for creating a unique and welcoming camping experience is truly inspiring. Seeing their vision come to life with new hard-standing pitches and Leicestershire’s first yurt glamping experience is fantastic.”
Comments Inderpal Singh, Investment Manager at First Enterprise
First Enterprise is a responsible finance provider offering unsecured loans ranging from £500 to £250,000 to support both start-ups and established businesses across the UK. Since 2011, First Enterprise has lent over £77 million to 7,305 businesses.
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