Caravan is used to get Thea's big idea rolling

MATCHA BUSINESS STARTED WITH £200 INTERNET FIND

- By BETHIA WYBORN

A RUNDOWN 1970s caravan abandoned in a field is not where most successful businesses begin.

But for 26-year-old Thea Naylor, a £200 caravan, a love of matcha and a willingness to learn on the job have been enough to build one of Devon's most eye-catching and unique food businesses.

The idea came in late summer 2024 after years of struggling to find quality matcha locally.

Thea, from Kingsbridge, said: "I absolutely hate coffee and I've always loved matcha, but I couldn't find anywhere in Devon that was doing it well. We were joking as a family about starting our own matcha trailer, and somehow it turned into reality."

Initially, the plan was to convert a horsebox, but the cost proved too much. Instead, Thea's boyfriend, Jordan, found an old caravan sitting in a field and bought it from Facebook Marketplace for £200.

"The horsebox trailers we looked at were around £2,000 and I thought, 'Oh my God, no, we'll just leave it.' At the time I was working full-time and I didn't think we'd actually do it."

Then Jordan came home with the caravan.

"I came home from work and it was just sitting on the driveway. I was like, 'right, I guess we're doing this then.'"

The caravan was far from ready for customers. The couple spent months stripping out flooring, removing stained wallpaper and installing plumbing and fittings. Neither had any previous experience renovating caravans.