Shepherd huts couple in line for national award
A couple who began building shepherd huts after noticing the rise in the popularity of glamping are in line for a national award.
Charlotte and Martin Eldridge, from Welshpool, began their business Black Mountain Huts in 2008, after seeing a newspaper article about the rise in glamping.
A builder who specialised in barn conversions and worked closely with English Heritage, Martin saw the article during a time when he was considering building his own workshop and married the two ideas together to create what is now Black Mountain Huts.
Charlotte, a kitchen designer by trade, joined her husband in the business after a brief period of retraining in carpentry and now the couple work with their team to design and build the huts for customers across the UK.
They will now go up against others after being shortlisted for the 2018 Amazon Rural Business Award.
The regional final will see businesses from Wales and Northern Ireland compete for a place in the 2019 national final.
Charlotte said: “We’re all absolutely thrilled to receive this nomination.
"We’ve been on the best journey with Black Mountain Huts since we sold our first hut at a local garden centre in 2009 and the nomination for a Rural Business Award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team.
"We’re really excited to attend the regional awards ceremony on October 16."
The pair build and design their huts in their Welshpool workshop, and they are are created for glamping entrepreneurs, glamping sites and customers who want to add a high-quality summer home to their garden.
The pair are no strangers to awards, having scooped two Gold Awards at this year’s Royal Welsh Show.
