How is Shepherd's Walks made up? x 4 aspects of the business in 2024 – multi-million-pound turnover

Shepherds Walks – Events, courses, retailer and guided walks

Shepherds Walks Holidays – Guided and self-guided walking holidays

Capricorn Mohair Socks – 60 + trade accounts and retail

GPS Training/ Outdoor GPS Shop – largest retailer of Outdoor GPS units in the UK, I know what our competitors sell, not very professional to say what they sell

1999 – Shepherds Walks – Northumbrian Shepherds Walks

- But, let’s go a back a little further than that

I’m Jon Monks –

School – not academic, school just did not work for me - Dyslexic

But excelled and Cubs, Scouts and Duke of Edinburgh

Hiking competitions

Maps made more sense to me than text in a book

Career choice - work outdoors – farmer?

Career officer – School

Career office – St Helens

James Hayes

Lancashire College of Agriculture – Careers office

YTS x 2 years – Arable framing

College x 3 years – Dairy and finally sheep

 

Post college – Australia, Lord Carnarvon (Highclere Estate) and Northumberland x 2 jobs

1999 – Shepherds Walks – Wrote walking guides (from a Shepherds perspective)

The web was made for walking – marketing

Telegraph, Guardian, Radio 4 (Ramblings x 2), Countryfile, Country Walking Magazine

Country Shows, Farmers Markets – really learning how to sell – hard work

2005 – Went full-time – Health Walks

Barclays Bank, Local District Council (now dispended) – Small business adviser and Business Link

 

Hard to make money, as did not really have a viable business -

Had a small shop/ unit on a converted farm with coffee shop and 8 other small ‘more crafty’ businesses.

Guided walks, self-led walking guides, maps, local history books, postcards etc

2006 – Bought Capricorn Mohair Socks

Needing 36k to buy business

15k bank, 15k our own money but 6k VAT

Became VAT registered after this – 75k ish turnover

2006/ 2007 – Selling GPS units – Contacting Peter Judd and Sheep Trails

Started selling GPS units/ training courses

2008 – Shepherds Walks Holidays – part of Saddle Skedaddle

 

2014 – Bought GPS Training – doubled my turnover – not scared of talking figures (125k x 2 – ¼ million turnover) – But more about that in next weeks podcast

 

And what a story that is – GPS Training

Covid – First lockdown - March 2020

Started to understand that often less is more – My shepherding background was the more I went around the sheep at lambing time the more sheep I would have, but this was not the case with GPST

We had a great stable base to build the business on – 50k Bounce back loan

New website –

GPST Jan 2021 – Built in Christmas/ January lockdown

SWH – 2022 – invest or die after Covid

SW – Jan 2022

Moved to our current premises – April 2023 (got keys on 1st February)

If you have not seen the video of us building the new offices please do, I will leave a link in the show notes - https://gpstraining.co.uk/blogs/news/the-build-shepherds-walks-ltd

We took over an empty unit (2,250 sq ft, 209 sq m) on 1st February 2023 and in 10 weeks spent weekends and evenings building our new office, training room and warehouse.

This was literally a new start – as we were in charge of our own destiny and I think it really reflects what Shepherds Walks Ltd is all about.

So that brings you up to date with where we currently are.

The x 4 businesses really keep us busy.

Next week I look in depth at GPS Training – how it was started and what has happened in the business over the past x 10 years.

In this I will talk you through the biggest challenge I have ever set out on – But this subject is, i.e. the first 10 years of GPS Training