COVID has thrown us into a world of confusion, many people not knowing what post-lockdown life will look like; but 21-year-old Mara Field and her boyfriend Oscar Wenn, 24, have taken full advantage of the free-time available over the past year by launching her own business, The Boxed Inn, with the help of Mara’s father Steve.
Mara and Oscar, both residents from Bridge, alongside Steve, are making use of their experience in the hospitality industry by launching their very own mobile bar called The Boxed Inn.
The couple began this venture shortly after returning from New Zealand, and what started as a “pipe dream” soon became a reality when the trio was able to upcycle an old horse box which had sat derelict for five years.
CommunityAd caught up with Mara to find out a little more about this exciting project and her hopes for the new business venture:
How difficult was it to start, organise and complete the project? Can you talk us through the process?
“It’s taken a while! There was so much more work than we anticipated, it was a complete shell when we started, and pretty much all the materials were reclaimed or from the original horse box. Between that and doing all the work ourselves it definitely made it a longer process than we imagined – I couldn’t even use a drill when we started! Thankfully, my Dad was always around to point us in the right direction. It probably took nearly a year in the end, but we did sort of give up over winter when the weather was horrible.
“We had our first customers, a couple at the beginning of May, and have got most of July booked up now which is very exciting.
“We’d really love to see it turn into a full-time thing, we’re both still working our usual jobs at the moment. A busy summer would be amazing, it’s tricky at the moment with everything going on of course but we’re both very optimistic.”