Couple rethink ‘dream’ business they launched in the Algarve

Matt and Claudia Hurst, from Harrogate, relocated their life, including their two dogs, to Portugal to launch Kwurk Events, which initially specialised in renting out tipis to Yorkshire customers for weddings.

The couple set up the business after getting married in the Algarve last summer and realising there were no tipi rental companies in the region.

A few weeks later, Mr Hurst started winding down his construction business and Mrs Hurst handed in her notice at her corporate job.

They bought six tipis in the UK and drove them to Portugal to start their new business.

Initially they worked with wedding planners both in the UK and Portugal to offer dream weddings in the Algarve sunshine but when the Covid-19 outbreak struck, they had to cancel all the weddings for this year and rethink their business.

Mr Hurst said: “We did the big dream move and gave it everything and it’s all been knocked back unfortunately. It’s not dead in the water but we’ve definitely put everything we had into it, that’s for sure.”

The couple have invested £160,000 into the business so far. Initially the business was going well with 16 weddings booked but then everything came to a halt.

Mr Hurst added: “We reimbursed 100 per cent of the weddings we had to cancel so we’re out of pocket. It has been exceptionally tough. I think it’s tough for anybody in any business at the moment.”

He said they have spent the last few weeks assessing how to take the business forward by diversifying into the bar market and sports events collaborations.

“We’re the only people in Portugal with tipis so we’ve got a niche, which is good,” he said.

He added: “We looked at the bar market in tourist areas on the coast, at marinas and even ski resorts elsewhere in Europe where we would offer the Christmas bar tipi experience with all the winter wonderland decoration. We don’t want to be pinned down to just one market.”

The couple installed their first bar at the MAR Shopping Centre in Almancil three months ago, which finally opened this week.

They have agreed another four sites for bars down the Algarve coast to trade all year round.

Meanwhile, they have also collaborated with Crossfit Renegade, to bring an obstacle race to the Algarve in October this year - a six-mile uphill course in the Serra de Monchique. The event will feature a tipi festival on the mountain after the race.

Mr Hurst said: “The UK is really good at putting on obstacle events so we want to bring the best of British to Portugal.”

He added that the future depended on how Covid-19 plays out over the next few months.

They have also launched a kickstarter project to raise funds for their projects.

“There’s mileage in what we’re doing but we just need to survive the next six months until October when we can get some of these projects off the ground,” said Mr Hurst.

He added: “The next 12 months is going to be tough for everybody but it’s all about how you fight back. For us, it’s about not giving up on the dream.”