George Parkin, founder of the business, has had a life long interest in pigeons and has been building pigeon lofts for more than 20 years. He explained: “In the past the ‘pigeon fancying community’ conjured up images of miners and cloth caps.

“However, keeping pigeons as a hobby dates back to Egyptian times and, with racing taking off in the 17th century, it is now a sophisticated global business, with strong interest in countries as far-afield as America and Japan. For example, an annual trade show held in Blackpool regularly receives 40,000 visitors, including many from abroad.”

When George retired from his ‘day job’ in 1994 he decided to turn his hobby into a full time business and Barnsley Lofts was successfully launched. The company, which truly is a family one with George’s wife, two sons, daughter and daughter-in-law all involved in the day-to-day running of the business, is proud of the quality of its products. With prices ranging from a few hundred to thousands of pounds, every loft is individually made to customer requirements. The firm also travels to customer locations around the United Kingdom to erect each loft and ensure complete customer satisfaction. The business also sells a range of bird care products and food by post and ‘over the counter’ and, following its expansion into the retail sector, is now known as Barnsley Loft and Pigeon Supplies.

REACT consultant, Philip Hudson said: “We accessed funding for an internet development and marketing project for Barnsley Loft and Pigeon Supplies through the EU funded ‘Invest for Growth’ (IFG) scheme. The company now has an attractive range of literature and also a brochure-ware website, which allows customers to view products and latest developments on-line. A contact section also allows 24-hour contact with the customer base.”