It started with the pandemic renovation of a rundown former fisherman’s cottage on the East Coast for property entrepreneurs Katy Buckley and Sally Ford.

And now the two Huddersfield businesswomen have invested in their hometown and want to grow their property portfolio.

Katy and Sally, who together form Petal & Barley Developments, were looking for a change of career direction.

Katy, 49, was a manager at a charity and Sally had just taken voluntary redundancy from her job as an insurance broker.

In early 2020 the friends decided to team up and get into property rental and they’ve never looked back.

“Property isn’t for the faint-hearted,” said Katy. “It’s a real rollercoaster but we’ve really embraced it. We’ve seen an opportunity, faced our fears and gone for it.”

Sally, 52, spotted a 1940s cottage in Flamborough that needed work but had potential. They put in an offer and it was accepted.

This was in mid-2020 – the height of the Covid-19 pandemic – and Katy and Sally drafted in their dads Billy and David to spearhead the renovations.

It was a real family affair and Sally’s mum Pauline organised everyone, making lists and shopping for the interior. David, meanwhile, actually lived in the property for three months, working over 12 hours a day, most days.

 

The gazebo at what is named Wavecrest Cottage was built by Billy and dedicated to Katy’s late mum Lesley.

The renovation took six months and the idea was to create a cosy, family and dog-friendly holiday let.

Katy and Sally are both mums and both have dogs – Petal is Sally’s black labrador and Barley is Katy’s golden spaniel. That’s how their business got its name.

The duo turned the dingy fisherman’s cottage into a modern holiday let with hot tub. Their USP is making their cottages pet-friendly without compromising on quality.

“When it was completed we had a holiday cottage rental company come and look at it but we thought they’d under-valued it,” said Katy.

“We didn’t want to pay 22% commission to an agent so thought we could do it ourselves. We built our brand on Facebook and smashed it.”

The post-pandemic holiday boom saw the business take off and they were able to borrow against the cottage, re-finance and look to buy another property.

 

 

By this time seaside property prices were rising fast so they looked further up the coast and found one in Saltburn-by-the-Sea in the North East. They bought it and ended up turning the garage into a mini spa.

Both cottages are in demand and people return year after year. There’s a housekeeper and a maintenance team just a phone call away. “We rarely have to go there now,” said Katy. “Unless we are on holiday in them ourselves!”

The success of the two holiday lets allowed Katy and Sally to look to invest back in Huddersfield and they now offer serviced apartments on the site of the former Newsome WMC.

The apartments are available to contractors or anyone working or visiting the town for short periods.

And they have just signed a service level agreement with Kirklees College to provide student accommodation for apprentices.

 

 

Petal & Barley also has relationships with other property hosts so can outsource quality accommodation on a par with their own high standards.

“From two people to a huge team, we can accommodate them,” said Katy. “And we can take away issues for landlords. We can take properties and turn them into serviced accommodation.”

Next on the agenda for the entrepreneurs is a property investment scheme where they offer investors a 10% return on their money. This will allow them to build up more capital to further grow their portfolio.

Both Katy and Sally have now quit their jobs to go full-time in the property business and Katy said: “We have done all this on our own initiative.

“We didn’t have any training but we have made a lot of contacts and taken insights and learnings from experts and people who have been there and done it.

“It was a real risk at first and it was scary but we had the confidence in what we were doing and what we could create.

“The world is our oyster now and we are four years in and ready to take another leap forward.”

Katy and Sally can be contacted via their website www.petal-barley.co.uk.

 

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