Enterprise of the month
There are some innovative people in and around the National Park. Every month we will be highlighting businesses or community enterprises whose great ideas about sustainable living and working have merited support from our grant funding and specialist expertise. This month we are focusing on Simonburn Tea Rooms ...
Simonburn Tea Room
Ann at Simonburn Tea Room2008 was a big year for Ann Maddison who runs the environment-friendly tea rooms, craft shop and B&B at Simonburn.
As well as achieving a silver Green Tourism Business grading, Ann won North East Rural Woman Entrepreneur of the year and the National Park’s own B&B for Bumblebees award.
Open to all accommodation providers in the National Park, three winners including Simonburn Tea Room were found to have particularly welcoming surroundings, attracting the ‘Big Six’ species of bumblebees including the Buff-tailed, Common carder, Early, Garden, Red-tailed and White-tailed.
Bio Diversity Officer, Shaun Hackett, said: “Everyone who entered did well, but the winning B&Bs are a credit to the county and role models for sustainable, nature-friendly tourism.”
Nature Tourism is rising in popularity and bumblebees are an important indicator species of the health of the natural environment, so the National Park is keen to encourage accommodation and visitor service providers to create havens for these and other creatures that attract native mammals and birds.
