Award-winning entrepreneur Celia Gaze says businesses need to stand out from their rivals if they want to succeed.
She’s the founder of The Wellbeing Farm in Edgeworth, near Blackburn, which employs 30 people and has a turnover of more than £1m.
The Wellbeing Farm is the perfect venue for corporate events, weddings and special family occasions, as well being a great location for company days out and wellbeing activities.
Asked for her advice to other entrepreneurs she said: “You’ve got to stand out and differentiate your business from the crowd – be the purple cow.
“To do that it’s about continuously reviewing your customer service, your marketing and your systems and processes and keep continually improving.”
The venue is powered by a wind turbine and is famous for its llamas, alpacas and even a sheep called Sandra!
Gaze launched The Wellbeing Farm after being left burned out by her high-powered NHS job and has written a book about her experience entitled ‘Why Put a Bow Tie on a Llama? How a crazy idea can change your life and transform your business’.
Gaze praised the help she’s received from Boost, which has included mentoring, guidance and support through Covid.
Boost was founded in 2013 and BusinessCloud will be showcasing some of the thousands of businesses to have benefited from their help in the following decade.
The Wellbeing Farm is the UK’s first events venue to achieve B Corp status and received support from Boost to set up B Corp Fest, which in 2025 will celebrate its 4th year.
“Boost’s support has been invaluable in enabling me to mix with other business owners, seek mentoring advice for business growth and to enable me to deliver a large scale event,” said Gaze.
In 2022 The Wellbeing Farm won both the Sustainable Business award in the Enterprise Vision Awards and the Green Business of the Year award at the BIBAs.
Next year the family firm connected with The Wellbeing Farm (Whiteheads Butchers) will celebrate 140 years in business.
As well as praising the influence of her long-term mentor Victor Giannandrea for “keeping me on my toes” Gaze said Lancashire was a great location for a business.
“It’s bang in the centre of the UK with great accessibility and fantastic connections,” she said. “The people you meet are really authentic, helpful, down to earth and super friendly.”
The Wellbeing Farm had to close during Covid but Gaze used the time to secure B Corp certification.
Asked for her advice for anyone considering using Boost she said: “Without a doubt I’d highly recommend it. Boost is an absolutely brilliant resource of help, events, networking opportunities and so much more.
“Do not delay – supportive, approachable, great understanding of business issues, helpful and a one-stop shop full of an A to Z of business advice covering all areas.
“If you’re looking to grow your business make contacting Boost your first step. I would also urge anyone wanting to grow a business to do it around doing something you love and then it will never feel like work.”
As for her future plans Gaze said: “We want to be the most sustainable venue in the UK. We have plans to expand our accommodation offer, further investment in facilities and plan to expand the corporate events side. We’re also planning further expansion of regenerative farming.”
- Led by Lancashire County Council, supported by Government and 10 local authorities, Boost is Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub, one of 37 Growth Hubs in the UK.Boost’s mission is to help Lancashire businesses thrive.Since 2013, Boost has supported over 14,000 businesses, helping create 3,500 jobs while adding £100m to the local economy.
From September 1, 2023, Boost is funded by Lancashire County Council, Department for Business & Trade (DBT), and UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) allocations from 10 Lancashire local authorities (Boost local authorities partners).
Boost’s local authority partners are Blackburn with Darwen Council, Burnley Council, Chorley Council, Fylde Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, Pendle Borough Council, Preston City Council, South Ribble Borough Council, West Lancashire Borough Council and Wyre Council.
Boost offers six core services including:
- Business Support Helpdesk
- Business Advice Service
- Growth Catalyst
- Scale to Thrive
- Flying Start
- Access to Finance
The Business Support Helpdesk offers advice and guidance to anyone thinking of starting a business and all new and existing businesses in Lancashire.
Businesses located in the 10 Boost local authority partner areas are eligible for the Business Advice Service, Flying Start, Growth Catalyst, Scale to Thrive and Access to Finance.
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