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Glamping design consultancy hits £1m turnover

Pandemic fails to halt growth of property consultancy’s Scottish division

Glamping design consultancy generates £ 1m in sales

Glampitect, the Scottish design consultancy for glamping sites, has a turnover of £ 1 million just two years after it was founded.

Calum MacLeod

The firm was founded in autumn 2019 by Calum MacLeod and Alisdair Young and has grown rapidly under the leadership of the couple.

In the first few months of trading, trades worth just over £ 41,000 were closed. The company then had a successful 2020 with sales in excess of £ 400,000 and this trend has continued into 2021 as the consultancy’s services are in high demand in the UK and internationally.

In October, Glampitect broke the £ 1m mark since its inception in Edinburgh, with £ 555,000 worth of deals so far this year.

“I’m happy that we made it this far so quickly. If someone had suggested that to me two years ago, I would have just laughed at them, ”said Mr MacLeod.

“We set a goal for the following year in December 2019 and the dream was to make £ 15,000 a month, which would have been £ 180,000 in total. Our best month was £ 67,000 and we made over £ 400,000.

“Hard work and dedication brought us here and we want to keep going.”

For the next 12 months, a sales target of € 2 million has been set.

“I remember that moment very well as I was so nervous,” said Mr. MacLeod. “It was a pre-planning application for a location in Aberdeenshire, and I remember standing there with the card machine in hand when the customer was about to pay. I remember thinking, ‘This is actually happening’. “

Glampitect is headquartered in Edinburgh but with offices in Dubai and Birmingham is a full service design consultancy for people looking to start a glamping site business.

It offers research and feasibility studies, pre-planning requests and full planning submissions, as well as assistance with client websites, marketing, PR and social media to ensure maximum return on investment.

The company is one of the success stories of the pandemic, currently employing 17 full-time employees, with the first team member only joining in June last year.

“We took the plunge in 2019 and it has paid off so far,” added Mr. MacLeod, a former electrical engineer. “Ali and I both gave up full-time jobs trying to do this without really knowing what to expect. It’s been fun and eventful all along since we started and to be honest it doesn’t feel like work.

“I would be happy if, through our success, we enable people to have the confidence to try something different when they are stuck in a dead end or when they do not feel fulfilled at work.

“If I could give advice to people, it would be ‘don’t worry’.”

Commenting on the company’s rapid growth, Young said, “As with any start-up, there have been challenges along the way, but it’s fantastic to be where we are right now.

“This is a special milestone for us, but for me and Calum this is just the beginning. Exciting times are ahead for Glampitect and I can hardly wait to see where we are headed. “

The entrepreneurs began their glamping journey in the Highlands when they founded North Coast 500 Pods in Achmelvich, Sutherland before founding Glampitect.