Start with Why!

I am often asked how I came to be running a Bed and Breakfast. So I thought it an opportune time to put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) to share my journey. I have recently read a book by Simon Sinek, whose main thread to having a successful business was to explain ‘Why’ you did the things you did, so that people would ‘get’ you…so here goes!

I was fortunate enough to receive voluntary redundancy from my job in one of the big four banks. I had been an area manager and over the years had done a significant amount of travelling, staying away from home and using no end of hotels and B&Bs-some good, some bad, as you might imagine.

 

Time out!

On leaving the bank, I wanted to take some time out and re-think what I wanted to do for employment going forward. I was pretty certain I wanted to be my own boss. Having spent years being directed by a large corporation with regards to what you should and shouldn’t do with and for both customers and staff (sometimes not really agreeing with the direction you were being guided in), I decided I wanted to be making my own decisions and taking my own actions.

 

I spent a while looking at different self-employed options and investigated quite a few different businesses, but eventually, like a dripping tap, I came to the conclusion that to turn my home into a Bed and Breakfast would be the right thing to do. I had lived in my home for 10 plus years, and over this time, enjoyed entertaining friends, quite often to hear the comment that I should run a B&B, as the house did lend itself to that and people did enjoy my home cooking. Obviously, at that time, I swept away the comment-it was impossible having a very demanding career to even think of running a B&B at the same time!

 

The transformation begins…

 

So, eventually the idea did sink in that running a B&B might be the right direction to go in. I did some research and found that there was no ‘boutique’ style accommodation close to Milford Haven, offering really great produce and a good quality stay, so I researched further and on paper, it looked like it might just work.

 

I set about ‘turning’ my home into a B&B, which is way more involved than just putting a sign out, as some people still think! The property needed to be altered with commercial drains, water supply, electricity and I needed a good enough hot water system to heat the whole house and have, potentially, 4 showers and a Jacuzzi bath all going at the same time-all having lots of lovely hot water-so we ended up having a hot water system that is usually fitted into sports clubs for the end of games showers-it does work though! All this is unseen work, but well worth it for guest to have fantastic power showers in the morning.

 

Then there are all the fire regulations and food safety regulations that have to be followed. I used to think there was nothing that could touch the bank for red tape -I was wrong!

 

But that is all a distant memory now, as nearly 5 years open we have a lovely up and running B&B.

 

It was important to me, when I was organising the rooms, that people should have what they may need on a stay away, be it business or pleasure. I used to find it would take me at least 3 days t get used to a strange bed, so the first thing I did was make sure we had lovely comfy beds that are a joy to sleep on, and crisp fresh bed linen so you always have that ‘newly made up’ bed feel. That was getting the ‘Bed’ part of B&B right.

 

Then I moved onto the other ‘B’-breakfast….

Breakfasts!

I first got in touch with the food department at the council and our local tourism association -Pembrokeshire Tourism(Pembrokeshire Tourism), to get a list of all our local producers, I was keen for guests to have a real ‘taste’ of Pembrokeshire when they visited -I do love my food and I wanted my guests to feel the same. I am a ‘grazer’ I love to have lots of courses for breakfast when I’m away and sample everything that’s on offer. I like to start with fruit and yoghurt of some kind, then have my cooked, then finish with some lovely toast and preserves. I take my time and I feast like a king…isn’t that what Prince Charles says…Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper!

 

I went all over the county searching out producers, I wanted local and then organic where possible and I held many taste tests with friends and family until I settled on what I was to offer going forward, all cooked on my lovely 1950 Aga. This process still happens, as I am constantly reviewing what I offer and also, fantastically, we are lucky to have a growing band of local producers, so there’s always something new to try! It must be working as we have been fortunate enough to be awarded the Pembrokeshire Produce Mark by Pembs County Council and win ‘Pembrokeshire’s Finest Breakfast’ for the last few years, and have some lovely glass ware trophies made by Steve Robinson Glass in St Davids (well worth a visit!).

So, there we have the ‘Bed’ and the ‘Breakfast’, and then I set about making sure the rooms looked lovely, with the help of a local interior designer and filled them with local Welsh woollen throws and cushions from Melin Tregwynt and pictures from our immediate area and named the rooms after the bays around Sandy Haven itself. I found some great toiletries a few miles away -New Dawn Organic toiletries-aromatheraphy, organic and handmade and such a fantastic fragrance to wake you up just right for the morning! Our rooms were recognised by receiving a Silver award for the Best Service Accommodation in Pembrokeshire too!

 

I am very proud of Pembrokeshire and Milford Haven and all it has to offer. I grew up with parents who were heavily involved with Milford Haven Estate and Lady Thomas (who owned most of Milford originally), so I have been surrounded with the history and stories of Milford Haven since I was a child. I could never move away with my career, I had to stay close to the river-hence all the travelling, and I do get the shakes, oddly enough if I go a few days without seeing water! To promote what Pembrokeshire has to offer, I fill the lounge with lots of great information of where to go and what to do, in fact there’s too much really-but then, that’s the reason to come back for another visit!

Ultimately, I get a lot of pleasure in seeing guests enjoying what I provide and enjoying the Pembrokeshire I am so proud of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photographs Copyright Claire Eaton Photography