Local Businesses and Rockingham Forest Park
Here at Rockingham Forest, we very much believe a business should put back into the local economy and help the local community where possible.
We have at every opportunity tried our best to use local businesses and suppliers in getting our park ready to a standard we are sure you will appreciate.
EOC Services Limited have been a local family run business for over 25 years designing, specifying, and installing air conditioning systems to both private and commercial clients.
The business has sustained steady natural growth since incorporation and are now one of the leading names in the industry.
In 2008 the business diversified into domestic central heating systems promoting Air Source Heating technology and are now one of Daikin UK’s biggest suppliers of their Altherma brand, providing heating systems to both individual homeowners and large scale developers.
EOC Services provide renewable technologies in Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Heating solutions for residential and commercial premises.
I’m Kadie, CEO of Oak Lane Cleaning Company and OLC Cleaning.
Due to a change in personal circumstances, I set up Oak Lane Cleaning Company in 2018. I started small, doing all the cleans myself.
The days were long and hard, but I loved setting my own schedule. Clearly something was going right because demand quickly outstripped the hours in my day.
I trained up family members and recruited extra staff so I could keep our growing customer base happy.
I still ran the business from my kitchen table up to 2019, when we then took on a commercial unit.
Soon afterwards we set up the commercial cleaning branch of the business. OLC Cleaning was born.
Now OLC specialises in high quality professional and technical cleans for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
Meanwhile, Oak Lane keeps our lovely domestic customers happy too.
Of course, 2020 brought fresh challenges to all of us. Lots of our team (including me) had to balance home schooling and work.
We brought in PPE to protect staff and customers and rewrote all our procedures and risk assessments. We have kept up to date with government guidance. Now we help other businesses get COVID-secure by doing what we do best – cleaning!
I am enormously proud that my one-woman cleaning business has grown into a company that employs over 30 staff. Lots of my core team have been with me since the start. Together we have built something pretty special. We now offer lots of specialist services along with routine cleans.
I could not be happier with how the team responded to the COVID pandemic. It has been a really tough time for everyone, but we have learned so much about what’s important in life.
It has also made me focus even harder on how we can make your life easier.
For example, we’ve started offering linen hire as well as our laundry services, so businesses don’t have to store piles of towels and tablecloths.
We now offer a one-stop cleaning shop, to save you time and effort. We currently offer domestic and commercial cleaning, one off cleans, holiday let and Airbnb cleaning, COVID 19 cleans, end of tenancy cleans, carpet cleaning and oven cleaning.
The business was founded by Gurvinder Patara in 2018, who after 20 years in the corporate life in various senior roles, decided he needed a change and a new challenge.
Having been a budding footballer who chose to go to university instead of pursuing a career in football, he studied at Birmingham University where he received a degree in Business Studies. He started his career at Barclaycard and then spent 20 years with one business where he had 9 promotions. He also qualified for the CIM Marketing Diploma and became the Vice President of International Procurement at the age of 36.
As a senior leader for the world’s largest hospitality business he spent many years working with businesses across the world to make a difference and delivered over £100m+ in cost savings. However, when he became a father his priorities changed, and he wanted to spend more time with his family and have a better work life balance. As a family of four with two children, the blessing of having a family is priceless and when his daughter had 3 operations within 12 months of being born you learn not to take anything for granted.
Having a good work ethic has always been important and at the age of 11 he started paper rounds and also worked on a market stall which created an entrepreneurial streak that has grown over time. This led to the starting of a new business, which after 20 years in the corporate world was a big change.
Starting a new business is very daunting, hard work and a big risk but if you believe in yourself and are passionate about what you do it helps a lot but it’s also important to help support others along the way.
Coming from a Punjabi Sikh background, giving back and helping others is also very important and Gurvinder has also written a number of children’s books to raise funds for various children’s charities and he also works with his local Sikh community in Kettering, to feed the homeless and disadvantaged on a monthly basis.
Fast forward to today and he has three successful and growing businesses that work with over 600 clients in the hospitality and leisure sector to reduce cost, save money and increase profits. Purchasing for Parks is now the UK’s leading purchasing group for the holiday, glamping, and farm park sector and had “the great pleasure to support the Rockingham Forest team on their first ever holiday park development and we wish the whole team every success with their new venture”.
Oak Lake store
Allow us to introduce Deborah, the proprietor of your Rockingham Forest Park Store.
Many local people know Deborah as she grew up a few miles from the park, also through the years as the local riding school owner and instructor. She has spent her adult life in the local area around Rockingham Forest Park, besides a few years living in Alaska.
Many hours have been spent hacking and schooling her horses on and around the surrounding fields and forest, and her horses and carriage remain on the surrounding land.
Deborah has been running a local cafe for the past 9 years, using local produce where possible supporting rural industry, and she intends to carry on this ethos whilst running Oak Lake store.
Deborah is committed to sourcing local produce, selling local crafts, and supplying visitors with every day essentials and commodities that will enable them to enjoy their stay.
Oak Lake store itself has been fitted out with 75% reclaimed timber and materials, with all the shelving made by family members using stripped down pallet wood.
Here you will be able to purchase coffee and homemade cakes, local beer and wines will also be available to take away and enjoy in your Lodge.
If it is local knowledge that you require during your stay then please feel free to call in at Oak Lake store and ask Deborah.
Howsafe is a leading supplier or workwear & PPE. Our family run business was established in 1978 in Peterborough.
Buy online, visit the workwear store safety shop, or use our unique mobile showroom and delivery service.
Howsafe offer personal protective equipment, protective clothing, safety gloves, safety equipment & safety wear solutions for all industries at competitive prices.
King’s Cliffe Brewery was founded in 2014, coincidently exactly 100 years after the closure of the original brewery just before the first world war.
So, in 2014 I had an opportunity to revive a childhood interest (yes, I was only 14 when I first started brewing with my father’s tacit approval) in producing proper hand-crafted ales. There was no plan to rival the big brewing boys, just a desire to brew great tasting ale to be enjoyed locally in the many fantastic pubs we have on our doorstep.
The Brewery aims to brew beers to broadly meet the very varied tastes of the real ale drinker. There is not a beer that everyone likes. There is no holy grail in brewing. However, having won many CAMRA awards for our beers, we feel confident that we are producing some tasty stuff.
We welcome anyone who wishes to visit the brewery for a quick tour, although it will not take long as the brewery is a relatively small one i.e., micro, but producing big beers in terms of flavour.
The Brewery is open for off sales every Friday and Saturday afternoon, but please visit our Facebook page for opening times as this may vary. We sell ale straight from the cask in refillable 4-pint kegs or 500ml bottles. If your thirst is slightly more ambitious, then we also sell tapped pins (36 pints) or firkins (72 pints). Party time.
‘The Brewer Bar’ (mobile) is also available for more organised events (weddings, large parties etc) where we will dispense hand pulled real ale and all the other associated beverages. Please visit our website www.kcbales.co.uk for further information
Finally, we would appeal to any of you real ale drinkers who might rigidly stick to mass-produced big-name beers, to try other more locally brewed ales. We think you will enjoy the experience and maybe change your preference, benefitting not only the small producer but the local economy too.
That cannot be a bad thing can it.
Jez O’Neill
King’s Cliffe Brewery
Tel 078432 88088
