Enchanted Beds

A success story - in more ways than one

Jane Honey meets the founder of a flourishing local company

Okehampton-based Enchanted House Beds has plenty of reasons to celebrate this summer - full order books, an increase in staff numbers and now officially able to use the coveted Dartmoor National Park Authority logo, thanks to their enthusiastic backing of Dartmoor wool.

Stuart Cann, 40, has been making beds since he was 16. He launched the company only three and a half years ago at a unit on Exeter Road Industrial Estate with just one member of staff. They’ve now expanded to take on a unit across the road, and the pay roll has increased to 15 - all the employees taken on after being made redundant by Relyon a year or so ago. They are all skilled workers - and they all live in Okehampton.

Enchanted House make hand-made beds and mattresses. In a world where mass-produced, pile it high and sell it cheap goods can often be king, Enchanted House beds are made by individual craftsmen - although they are so experienced, two men can make a king sized mattress and base in a day.

Stuart said: ‘We are doubling in size every year - the bed market nationally is really slow, but we have gone for the high-end products and there are always people who are prepared to pay for something that’s well made - and locally made. It’s like food - they like to know the provenance of what they are paying for and there’s definitely a demand for mattresses made from natural, sustainable products.’

And you can’t get much more local, when the Dartmoor wool used in an Enchanted House bed comes from Stuart’s family farm on the edge of the moor. As Stuart explained, it’s a win-win arrangement.

‘We want to support Dartmoor farmers and we pay more for the wool than the Wool Board does. Several breeds are becoming endangered now, so we hope that by using this wool, the numbers will be kept up. It also gives more value to the sheep that are used to graze the commons.’

The wool is washed in Yorkshire using a natural water process and then fed by hand into a wool breaker which fluffs out the fibres, the odd bit of straw falling away from the natural wool during the procedure!

Mattresses may also include silk, cashmere, alpaca and horsetail hair - the latter providing natural spring and moisture wicking properties.

All Enchanted House beds are hand-made to order. They have embroidered labels which can be individualised to the customer’s requirements with names, dates - anything that will make that bed a little more special.

Enchanted House beds are now to be found all over the world, from the UK, to Peru to Australia. The company supplied The White Hart in Okehampton when it was bought by pub giant J D Wetherspoon, the business was thrilled to be asked to make the beds for top chef Michael Caine’s wonderful new hotel and restaurant, Lympstone Manor, and even provided the ultimate in sleeping luxury for the presidential suite at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London’s Hyde Park.

Enchanted House Beds is also supporting Dartmoor National Park’s Donate for Dartmoor scheme to show how local businesses can support each other and Dartmoor. By using Dartmoor hill farm wool and with support through publicity and raising awareness, Enchanted House Beds is helping to make sure the moor thrives. Dartmoor National Park Authority is proud to endorse this approach and welcomes ideas from other businesses for ways to work together to keep Dartmoor the special place it is.

National Park chairman Bill Hitchins said: ‘We are delighted that Enchanted House are supporting valuable conservation work on Dartmoor through the Donate for Dartmoor scheme. This is a great example of a local business working in partnership with the National Park.’

For more information about Enchanted House Beds at Okehampton, go to www.enchantedhousebeds.com or call 01837 318060.