Growing family – Secret of Thorpe Farm Centre’s success

Thorpe Farm Centre has a proud past, an exciting present and a bright future.

The four generations of the Barkes family have lived and worked at Thorpe Farm for 90 years and it looks like they will be there for many more years to come.

Philip Tallentire spoke to the family to discover the secret of their success.

Thorpe Farm Centre is thriving.

The business the public sees today was established 25 years ago by husband-and-wife team Paul and Jo Barkes.

Their son Harvey now plays a hands-on role, working alongside his parents on projects designed to secure the business’s future.

Thorpe Farm has evolved and grown in line with customers’ changing requirements but standards remain just as high as they did in 2001.

This year sees the opening of two brand new padel courts and the addition of 11 static caravans to their expanding site.

And, in the coming weeks, Thorpe Farm will stage some of its most popular annual attractions including a Halloween-themed Scare Night and Santa’s Grotto.

The business started in the beautiful 18th century Grade II*-listed Thorpe Farm Peel House by the A66 near Greta Bridge.

It has since expanded into several converted buildings and a purpose-built shop and restaurant.

“We started what we’re doing now in 2001,” explained Paul, who was a farmer before deciding to diversify.

“We had a farm shop and coffee shop, that was it really.

“We were still in pigs in those days and they had been through an horrendous time in the 90s and, when it was just coming right, foot and mouth came – that finished us really.

Jo added: “It was supposed to be another business alongside farming, not instead of it, but it has just happened to end up being our sole business.”

There have been challenges along the way, with the dualling of the A66 almost 20 years ago having a major impact with construction work disrupting trade and then the finished road making it less easy for passing trade to break up their journey by calling in to Thorpe Farm.

“It was 18 months of cones and blocked entrances,” remembered Paul.

But over the last quarter of a century the couple have demonstrated a willingness to adapt to changing circumstances and challenges.

They looked closely at the commercial landscape and came up with a new masterplan for the business that retained the best of what they did but also added several new revenue streams.

“We had to do something different and that’s why we started the caravan park,” explained Paul, who was born and raised at Thorpe Farm.

“What we’ve done instead of going down the shop and the catering side, we’ve focused more on leisure and being a destination for people to stay.

“What we’re looking to do ongoing is to create more activities on site to pull more people in.

“And, hopefully, once they’re here they will use the shop and the restaurant.”

Jo pointed out that Thorpe Farm’s situation on the trans-Pennine A66 is one of its great advantages.

“Our location’s brilliant,” she said.

“The Lakes are in one direction, York’s in the other direction, we’re just nine miles from Scotch Corner and the A1, which is fantastic really.”

It’s also extremely handy for people living in Teesdale and one of the new ventures will no doubt encourage more people to make the short drive from Barnard Castle and surrounding communities.

“The big thing for us over the coming weeks is our new padel courts,” said Harvey.

“We’ve been aware of padel for a long time and we decided to convert an existing agricultural building.

“We’ve got two courts, one for singles and one for doubles, plus a breakout space in an extension to the shed.

“We’ve got sofas in there, tables and chairs, a couple of toilets have gone in.

“People can spend time before and after a game of padel in the breakout space and we’re going to have a vending machine offering food and drink and balls you can purchase to play with.

“It will be open seven days a week from seven in the morning through to 10.30 at night and it’s not just a purely for the site owners and existing holiday makers, it’s to attract more people to the site.”

Thorpe Farm is evolving its caravan park by increasing the number of static caravans.

“We had a big announcement in November last year that we received planning permission for the next stage of development,” said Harvey.

“At the moment we are converting 11 existing seasonal pitches into statics for holiday use.

“It’s a continual expansion of where the site’s going.

“We started back in April and we’ve got all the groundworks in – concrete pads, gas, water, drainage, electrics – it’s just the landscaping that’s still to be done.

“Then the next stage will be the next 90 plots comprising touring, camping, holiday pods and rental and private statics.”