A SAVVY Brit has told how he rakes in bucket loads of cash by renting out tents in a field over the Glastonbury Festival.
Mark Sorrell, 52, eyed the opportunity to make a bit of cash in 2010 on some land a mere 10 minute walk from the world-famous five-day festival.
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Teaming up with wife Vicky and some local farmers who he rents the land off – he threw up 17 tents, a toilet block and some showers in a field for the 2011 festival.
Speaking to The Sun ahead of Glastonbury – that will see the likes of Billie Eilish and Sir Paul McCartney take to the Pyramid stage – the dad-of-three said it wasn’t easy going at first.
Mark, from Somerset, said: “We waited tables, cleaned all the toilet filters, all the glamourous stuff… It was a labour of love.”
Despite losing money for the first couple of years, Mark – who used to flog property in the Cayman Islands for 12 years – said his clever plan then “exploded”.
It now boasts over 200 tents and 600 guests in an over ten acre plot just off the A361 near Pilton.
He went on: “We grew really quickly from 2011 to 2012… quite a lot of that is luck. People liked it because it was innovative.”
The idea came about after a strike of misfortune after his business which made garden offices and small garden homes never took off – until he had the idea to use them at festivals.
Mark now has over 100 people under him through his company Pop Up Hotel and the whole place takes 5 weeks to build at a massive cost of over £12,000.
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But that is only the start of it for the local lad who grew up in the nearby town of Street.
The plucky dad now commands up to an eye watering £25,000 for luxury eight-bed yurts which he says is popular with groups.
While the ‘Raj Tenthouse Suite’ for six will set punters back over £20,000.
Funky Airstream camper vans – that sleep two – are available for a cool £10,000 for the weekend.
While guests can also splurge the cash on a range of yurts, tents and cabins ranging from a not so cheap £2,500 to £15,000.
He has even splashed out on a hand built POOL with a bar so guests can take a dip and neck drinks after a long day on Worthy Farm.
Mark’s hotel – which is among around 30 offsite campsites not affiliated with the festival – even boasts a huge dining area which offers guests three meals a day.
His three kids Jack 23, Sam 22 and Molly, 16, help their dad out running the place.
When asked how much he is raking in, he says he “does not want to go into the details”.
RAKING IT IN
But he admits there is a financial incentive to keep going with his genius idea.
He added: “It is a reasonable business profit margin by the time we calculate all the costs and our overheads to run every year.”
“It’s hundreds and hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of cost to build this.
“From power, to water, security, to the ground rent – it’s like a festival in itself.”
A nearby campsite reckon Mark is raking in “hundreds of thousands” with his luxury camping set up which has just over 200 pitches.
Mark also refuses to say how much he rents the land off the farmers for but he says he is paying a “significant amount for rent”.
Covid has been “horrendously difficult” for Mark who says it “decimated” the festival industry, and he’s taken a big hit as well.
He adds: “It’s only now we are getting into positive cashflow… we had two years of difficulty but this year has been great, we have sold out.”
He says the cash is a massive help to his life.
He admits that he “will never top out 200 tents” but “wants to hone our product and make it better” and add to the growing list of locations he has taken his business plan to.
He has also run events in Cornwall.
A whopping 210,000 festival goers are expected to descend onto Worthy Farm this weekend.
Billie Eilish will headline the famous Pyramid Stage on the Friday while Sir Paul McCartney, who turned 80 last week, will play Saturday night.
Rap sensation Kendrick Lamar will bring the festival to a close on Sunday.
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