Basecamp North Lakes

Basecamp North Lakes has been nominated for the Specialist Retailer of the Year category.

The sustainable farm shop, café and community hub, set in 150 acres of restored farmland with its own lake just off the A66 between Keswick and Penrith, is also home to a herd of attention-grabbing alpacas.

The shop is stocked with 40-plus local food producers, there is traceable provenance on all meat and they have in-house bakers and butchers.

Emma Smalley and Terry Barlow aim to grow the café and farm shop into a champion for sustainable rural enterprise and to provide a home for the non-profit CIC, Alpacaly Ever After.

Its mission

• To be a model for sustainable, innovative, rural enterprise.
• To champion high quality, eco-friendly, forward thinking, local suppliers.
• To prioritise people and planet over profits, in terms of our customers, our suppliers, our team, our community, our landscape and our natural environment.
• To offer a healthy, enjoyable and sustainable shopping and eating experience.
• To provide an inspiring and memorable gateway to the Northern Lakes.
• To offer a rewarding, supportive and ethical working environment to creative, talented and enterprising people.
• To support award winning social enterprise Alpacaly ever After CIC in providing lifelong care to alpacas and llamas, and outstanding experiences for humans that are accessible to all and surrounded by the beauty of the Lake District World Heritage Site.