Member Article

Interview with entrepreneur Sally Fielding: How I got a desk on the top of Blencathra

Sally’s Cottages is a holiday lettings agency with over 300 Lake District and Cumbrian cottages.

It was started by Sally Fielding in 2003 with an investment of £1000 has grown to an agency with 12 staff and over 50 self-employed cleaners.

Bdaily spoke with Sally to get her views on what makes her business different; what challenges she faces with her business and how you can get a desk to the top of Blencathra.

Getting the desk to the top of Blencathra was no easy task.

Sally said she and local farmer Alistair got up at 4 am and travelled via quadbike, only to have it break down at the furthest possible point from help.

Hours passed and finally the rest of the group found Sally, Alistair, the desk and broken quad bike.

Thankfully the desk split into three and group carried it to the top of Blencathra, reaching the summit at 11 am.

Just as the mist cleared they captured this fantastic photo, with some friendly sheep photobombing the shot.

Sally said: “A big thing for us is that we care about what we’re doing, we take time with both cottage owners and renters.

“I was inspired by a book called ‘A town like Alice’ and I feel it reflects business in Cumbria very well, we rely on each other, there are a lot of small businesses in Cumbria that all work together.

“It’s about getting a balance working together for what you believe in, I grew up here and I still quite like it!

“The biggest challenge for me is juggling all the balls at once, it’s important to get the groundwork done first and I’m quite impatient but we have a great team that help me be patient and I find work easy because I find it so interesting.

“The main impression I would like to leave is one of integrity, we do things for the right reason putting good service before squeezing every penny of profit out, we want to inspire moments of happiness with people when they stay at a cottage.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .