There seems to be a real trend of traditional high-street business struggling and ultimately going under. Far more common is the sight of boarded up shopfronts and to-let signs on previously busy and vibrant town centres across Cornwall. Although this has come hand in hand with another trend sweeping across the country; mobile shopfronts.
From food venders all the way to saunas and hairdressers on wheels can be found in a quite unusual area. I went to Gyllynvase beach in Falmouth to explore a few of these businesses first hand. I was at Gylly beach on the 11th after a previous visit the week before to speak with some of the budding, trend savvy business owners to get their thoughts on a unique take on a commercial norm.
The first thing that struck me with the people that I spoke with was a the recency of all of their plots as well as the businesses as a whole. All of them had popped up within the past two years and in fact the majority had been there for exactly that length of time, with this Autumn striking the bell after a second full summer season.When speaking to Trev the owner of Tidal Coffee, who runs a plucky little coffee shop out of a rustic pony box, he expressed his passion in being exclusively mobile after seeing success in what he had been doing. So much so that Trev is now looking expand, telling me “I want us to be bigger”, going on to explain the he was already in the middle of building a second, larger box to also operate from. As Trev has a background in personal training and and physiotherapy, he believed to have corned a potential market in sporting events, given the often lacklustre or overpriced amenities’ that are usually offered. An interesting perspective that Trev shared with me was one of always remaining mobile even going as far as to say, “I will never have bricks and mortar”. Given the high quality of coffee Trev served me and his clear drive to build up his business to expand I have no doubt that he will see this through.
“I will never have bricks and mortar”
Trev in the sun down at Tidal Coffee
I also spent time at Gyllynvase beach talking with one of the bust traders to be set up there, Dough an Dowr ran by local brothers Trent and Lance. Trent was keen to tell me of their exploits over the past two years wherein the business had been booming, even allowing them to stall open for all twelve months of the year, something of an anomaly for a small business in Cornwall. Much like with Trev at Tidal Coffee, Trent and Lance have also been working on expansion following another successful summer. With Trent saying “a bigger workspace would really help me”, true words given the size of kitchen that he was dealing with accompanied by the stone based pizza oven. When i asked about option of expanding into a permanent premises Trent explained that his parents own a restaurant in Falmouth and so hi is aware of the costs first hand, leading him to be turned away from the idea, preferring the nomadic lifestyle for his business.
“A bigger workspace would really help me”
Trent running Dough an Dowr @ Gyllynvase beach
Tidal Coffee and Dough an Dowr are certainly not alone when it comes to trailers, vans, wagons and all other sorts of mobile businesses rolling out all over the country, not just here in Cornwall. With my own local town Penzance having seen the promenade become filled with quirky small businesses. One of the key issues leading to this shift is the business rates in town and city centres; this was echoed by all those i spoke with, for some just the fear and stress of those overheads being enough to sour the taste of owning your own business. Another factor at play is the nomadic lifestyle that we saw come in to fashion at the tail end of the Covid-19 pandemic, where not just cafes and shops but many took to vans and horseboxes to live a life of geographical freedom.