We are four young, fun-loving and ambitious men from Chepstow in South Wales, who, having gained 22 years experience with a marquee company, have turned long-harboured dreams into a reality by establishing Herf Yurts Ltd. By doing so, we bring the first ever Grand Yurt to Wales as well as a vehement vow to provide an unrivalled event experience and impeccable customer service. During our vast experience of project managing events catering for 10 to 5000 guests, we have learnt all the skills necessary to provide event perfection with a personal touch.
Chameleonesque, our Herf Yurts adapt to provide you with an idyllically bespoke venue for your special occasion.
We provide:
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Herf Wedding Yurts
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Herf Festival Yurts
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Herf Party Yurts
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Herf Bar Yurts
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Herf Hospitality Yurts
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Herf Conference Yurts
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Herf Exhibition Yurts
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Herf Build-to-order Yurts (as children’s playhouses or outside rooms)
Whichever you choose, we pride ourselves on working in close unison with you to ensure everything is tailored to your complete satisfaction. From our initial customer-led consultation process right through to a meticulous post-event clear-up we strive to smooth your path to Yurt perfection. This is supplemented by our extensive and intimate knowledge of the events industry in Monmouthshire and South Wales as a whole, as well as through The Wye Valley and into Bristol, which means we are able to draw on a wealth of contacts to meet your every need. Equally, it also means we are talented at working in unison with other companies in order to bring each element of your event together smoothly and efficiently.
Some phoitos copyright Tobias Fairlove and Henry Yurtmaker
Having been seduced by the architectural individuality and elegant simplicity of Yurts we began our adventure by acquiring the skills necessary to create such beautiful spaces. Already possessing a pre existing appreciation for the sustainable nature of nomadic Central Asian life, we strove to maintain these values by painstakingly hand-crafting our Herf Yurts using ancient techniques with coppiced wood sourced within a 10-mile radius of our base in a way which contributed to the positive management of local woodland (we are passionate about protecting the environment in which we live, please see our Here at Herf we love the Earth section).
A myriad of helpful phone calls and emails with the wonderful Yurt community in the UK pointed us in the direction of Tobias Fairlove, a fantastic gentlemen who has lovingly hand-crafted his own Yurts for a quarter of a century. He was the perfect consulting expert for our first ambitious 41ft Grand Yurt, (which will comfortably hold 130 seated and 250 standing), having pioneered the building of large Yurts in the UK many years ago. We will forever be thankful for his expert tutelage and superb company as he happily imparted 20 years of knowledge to us four eager apprentices over an enthralling 6-month period.
You join us at the beginning of our great Yurt adventure, with a magnificently hand crafted Herf Grand Yurt available for you to hire to make your big occasion special. Whilst we only have the single Herf Yurt currently, we will be making more in the near future, so if we don’t have exactly what you need to meet your requirements at present or would like to commission a Herf Yurt to buy, please don’t hesitate to contact us as you may find our respective plans coincide. Furthermore, we have a plethora of electrical, lighting, furniture, venue and catering contacts at our disposal and maybe able to negotiate a cheaper price, so please give us a call or email and we will strive to help you out as best we can.
Meet the men behind Herf Yurts...
Luke Farley
I have worked as a Site Manager for a marquee company for the last 5 years, having begun life in the events world during the university holidays whilst achieving a 2.1 in English Literature from Loughborough University (2011). Subsequently, I temporarily quenched my thirst for adventure, (which had been whetted on previous trips to Australia, Fiji, India, Morocco and when interailing around Europe), by spending two months travelling around New Zealand watching the rugby world cup before another two months in South East Asia. I then returned to complete a PGCE at Bath University (2013) where, despite thoroughly enjoying the teaching aspect, I quickly became disillusioned with life in the profession. I returned to project management with the marquee company while assessing how I wanted to move forward and in the summer of 2014 the idea of setting up our own business took hold and the hard work began.
Ethan Wilson
From the age of about 5 I always had an interest in making things, my dad bought me my first toolkit and made me a workbench for my 8th birthday and since then I have known my path in life. For the past 8 years I have trained as a carpenter and joiner, alongside travelling and exploring the world. Straight into the industry from a young age I learnt the traditional trade, and the importance of keeping a true craft alive rather than replacing with machinery and mass production. My love for culture and immersing myself in the local way of life has led me to visit some incredible countries and meet some fascinating people. Returning home and starting a Yurt business with 3 talented friends has been the perfect way to blend work with pleasure; a challenging feat, which has allowed me to hone my skills, explore the outdoor way of life I love, and embrace my passion for craftsmanship and woodwork, by hand-making beautiful Herf Yurts.
I started erecting tents for County Marquees after leaving education 8 years ago and have gained valuable knowledge and experience in my time there, but I always wanted to branch off and start my own company doing something similar. I often talked about setting up with a few of the other boys, so, summer 2014 we decided to make our dreams a reality. After sampling the delights of numerous festivals and seeing yurts being used for everything from restaurants to party venues we decided that this was the structure for us. We liked the simplicity of the yurt, the beauty of the design and the versatility it offered to us. I’ve always been hands on and I love working outdoors so I was eager to learn the techniques used to build the yurt. The idea that these beautiful domes have been in use all over the world for the last 2,500 years really appealed to my traditional values and I like the idea of becoming part of the chain and gaining this knowledge. We like the eco-friendly nature of the yurt and the fact that it has been handmade helps to bring an authentic atmosphere and a home-made quality to any occasion. Best of all; the job satisfaction is huge when you get to help someone create their perfect day.
Richard Petherick
Thomas Heggs
After graduating from Cardiff University with a Business Management degree in 2011, I fell into the world of marquee erecting. This is where the idea to build a yurt started to evolve and grow. After seeing the enjoyment people get from outdoor structures and the flexibility and scope there is with them, building a yurt seemed like the best thing to do! I have enjoyed the physical and outdoor nature of the work and also dealing face to face with customers who want everything to be perfect for their special day. Throughout my years spent as a site manager with County Marquees I have enjoyed working as part of a team and pulling together to get the job done. The yurt making process has been a steep but gratifying learning curve.
In my spare time, I enjoy playing rugby and have represented Chepstow RFC for a number of years. Myself and my colleague Luke also enjoyed a trip to New Zealand for the 2011 rugby world cup travelling around and enjoying the sights and rugby. As well as this, I have enjoyed attending various festivals with Glastonbury 2014 being a particular highlight. Festivals often provide the perfect backdrop for the Yurt and have spurred on the passion to build a yurt with aim of trying to attend more festivals.