Farmer, former internet provider, business centre and nursery boss

A CHILDREN’S nursery and a broadband business are among the ventures pursued by one North Yorkshire farmer who has diversified away from the traditional agricultural sector.

Mark Pybus first converted some buildings on his farm near Catterick into the Crabtree Hall Business Centre in 2007, but quickly found that the internet provision was not sufficient.

Within five years, he had set up Crabtree Community Broadband to improve the connectivity for the tenants, “but also as part of that we relayed it out to villages and businesses in the area”, Mr Pybus told The Yorkshire Post.

The internet business quickly attracted so many customers that it was sold to a larger provider about three years ago.

Mr Pybus said: “It was getting to a point where there were more customers than we could manage really and be technically proficient enough to service them properly.”

When the financial crash hit soon after the business centre opened in the late 2000s, Mr Pybus said he “really struggled for tenants in the early days”.

“Which was why we ended up having the nursery because there was one building that was stubbornly empty and we thought we should fill it with our own business,” he said.

Mini Explorers Nursery now has space for 82 children and employs 35 people focusing on children spending time outside “walking around the farm and learning a bit about the countryside”.

“The internet was again through necessity rather than wanting to become an internet provider,” Mr Pybus said, describing their old connection as “very ropey”.

He added: “When I think about neighbours in our area there are very few businesses that are solely agricultural, they’ve diversified in some way, even if it’s just having a holiday house or bringing a second income into the household.”