Enterprise Nation

How can a business in massage therapy lead to a business marketing and selling Yurts. And what are Yurts, anyway? Tom and Lisa provide some answers.  

Before starting Gecko Yurts, what were you both doing?

The spa in a yurt concept went to the festivals and it grew from there. People wanted to use the yurts for their kids parties and teenage sleepovers. We also had a number of romantic wedding nights so the yurt became popular with hen parties as we would provide amazing spa treatments for the hens and then after the spa day we'd set up a dinner table or movie screen so the hens could have a really great night. It's an intimate and cost effective solution as hens get the spa day, dinner party and sleep over venue - all in one great yurt package!

2008 will see our business develop in amazing new ways... we now have 10 structures and in addition to the spa we also have a mobile hotel made up of yurts called the Yurtel! www.yurtel.co.uk This year we'll be offering luxurious camping to festival goers - we are at Cornbury Festival, T in the Park, Latitude festival, Secret Garden Party, The Big Chill, V festival, Creamfields and the Electric Picnic in Ireland. We are now specialising in intimate weddings of 50 people and parties of up to 200. The design of these yurts are so amazing and they can be linked together to create a really great party space.

After the summer we will launch our online shop selling our own natural hot and cold balm like tigerbalm and In December we plan to create a Santa's secret village - an amazing 3 hour children's activity creation using the yurts as the venue and creating a really magical experience for all.