The Rowley Estates offers 5 star luxury self catering in the Eden Valley. These historic venues are owned and run by husband and wife team Christine and Charles Rowley. The Rowley family has been based in the Eden Valley for generations focusing on farming and forestry and opened its doors to the tourism market in December 1998. This very much family run business began offering holiday rentals at a time when there were few large rental properties available for holidaying across the country and experienced strong demand for Melmerby Hall from guests looking for a venue for multigenerational family and friends and family get together holidays. Over the last 20 years, the business has gradually expanded to four locations offering a number of historic property holiday rentals to visitors to Cumbria with capacity of c. 150 guests per night.
Christine was prompted to approach Cumbria Growth Hub about the Peer to Peer networks after receiving an email promotion. “Initially I thought it might be a bit more like business therapy, a bit more leadership coaching, so it was quite different from what I expected. But I certainly wasn’t disappointed.”
“Although I was initially unsure about committing to more Zoom based interactions, I found the network programme very helpful for me personally and for The Rowley Estates business overall. The format of each participant presenting a dilemma or issue for their business in their designated session was thought provoking and we all learned things about our circumstances from considering business issues raised by others in our group. It was also really beneficial to develop new relationships and opportunities with other local business owners in a collaborative framework which helped us to learn that we are not alone in facing challenges.”
Christine continued that she thought one of the greatest benefits from being part of the Peer Network was the feeling of having a support network. She added that it was clear from what the other participants said during the sessions that this was also how they felt. “Even though we were different types of businesses, from various sectors, because we were all business owners, directors and senior people within SME businesses we felt a strong level of commonality.”
“I felt Julie was an absolutely great facilitator.” Christine commented that she felt that Julie had done an excellent job of setting up the sessions, found her pragmatic, engaging, discrete, with an effective ability to handle the group. “She spoke to me at length before I presented my topic, ensuring that it was structured in such a way that I would get what I was looking for from the other participants. She delicately managed the whole process to ensure we all stayed on focus.”
Christine said she would recommend the Network to other businesses. “It was particularly helpful to us as it came at a time when we felt very isolated. It was uniquely wonderful timing.” Continuing that she feels that the whole process has merit for businesses looking to connect. “I didn’t find it time consuming or a burden, each session was time well spent, whether I was presenting or participating.”