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A sense of belonging: Kip & Nook - Ben Rennison

Kip & Nook
www.kipandnook.com
Instagram: kipandnook

From a single cabin on his grandfather’s farm to a destination bringing together restaurants, cabins, padel, cars and soon a swimming pool and wellness centre, Ben Rennison has built Kip & Nook one idea at a time. Sian Anderson meets the man behind one of the region’s most distinctive hospitality destinations to talk family, risk, ambition and why, ultimately, he wants to stop.

On a hot day in August, Kip & Nook feels less like the point where the ceremonial borders of North Yorkshire and County Durham meet and more like the South of France.

There are grandparents lingering over coffee, families spilling out with children in tow, influencers in designer wellies and friends gathering for lunch.

It’s stylish without being pretentious, sociable without feeling exclusive and relaxed enough that nobody seems in a hurry to leave.

You can come for lunch and a game of padel, disappear into an off-grid pitch for a night under the stars or check into one of the luxurious cabins and spend the weekend barely seeing another soul.

Kip & Nook is many things at once – a restaurant, retreat, playground and escape, and increasingly a boutique destination in its own right.

But perhaps more than anything, it is a place designed to bring people together.

At the centre of this rather extraordinary operation is founder and chief ideas man Ben Rennison, who operates at 100 miles an hour.

His mind is permanently racing towards the next idea, while somehow keeping a remarkable number of plates spinning.

And around him, Kip & Nook remains very much a family affair.

There is wife Sarah and three-year-old Albert, with the couple expecting their second son.

Ben’s mum also works in the business.

cabins, padel court and restaurant – whether it is navigating a busy Saturday or taking part in a staff rounders match.

For Ben, creating that sense of belonging among the people who work there is every bit as important as the experience enjoyed by those who visit.

He says: “People always say I’ve done an amazing job, but it’s not me.

“It’s the team. Without these guys, we wouldn’t be anything.

“I want people to enjoy coming to work and feel part of what we’re building.

“If the team is happy and having a good time, guests feel that too.”

And Kip & Nook is rooted much deeper in the land than its polished cabins and contemporary hospitality offering might initially suggest.

This was Ben’s grandfather’s farm, a place he grew up feeling an instinctive pull towards.

He says: “This was always a family farm; it was my grandad’s farm.

“He passed away when I was ten and I always wanted to be a farmer.”

His dad, however, encouraged him to find another path.

Ben adds: “My dad said, ‘There’s no money in farming. Go and do something else’.”

For a while, Ben did.

Before Kip & Nook came a firewood business, furniture-making and a building company – each another chapter in what would eventually become a much bigger idea.

Then there is the 45-strong team, which is as much a part of the Kip & Nook story as the cabins, padel court and restaurant – whether it is navigating a busy Saturday or taking part in a staff rounders match.

But the farm kept drawing him back.

And in 2020, during lockdown, Ben found himself there once again, doing what came naturally – building, experimenting and seeing what might work.

He constructed a small cabin in one of the fields, initially with little thought beyond creating somewhere of his own to escape to.

After spending a few nights there, however, he began to wonder whether other people might enjoy it too.

Ben put the cabin on Airbnb, and the response was immediate.

He says: “I think I stayed in it for about three nights and thought, ‘I could rent this out’.

“I put it up on the site and it was flooded with bookings.

“With the money from that one, we built another, then with the money from that, we built another.

“It just continued snowballing.

“Six years on, we’re still building cabins today.”

There was no fixed vision for what Kip & Nook might eventually become.

Instead, it evolved organically, growing in response to what worked and Ben’s instinct for what the place could become.

The farm’s existing barn was brought into the mix, followed by more accommodation, food, events and experiences.

And with each addition, Kip & Nook became less about simply giving people somewhere to stay and more about creating somewhere they wanted to spend time.

Ben adds: “I always envisaged it being an attraction – a place where people could hang out.

“I love people. I love hosting people and looking after them.

“There’s no demographic here, and I think that’s why we’re doing well.”

That breadth is now one of Kip & Nook’s defining characteristics.

Couples can disappear into the countryside for a secluded weekend, while families, groups of friends and businesses can use the same site in entirely different ways.

Yet building somewhere that looks this effortless has been anything but.

Behind the cabins, cocktails and carefully considered interiors is a business Ben admits has pushed him to his limits.

For someone whose instinct is always to move on to the next thing, however, the greater danger appears to lie in standing still.

He says: “I think the risk is continuously not stopping.

“But for me, the biggest risk would be stopping.”

Increasingly, Kip & Nook has also become somewhere Ben’s own passions find their way into the business.

And there is another, slightly unexpected thread running through the place: cars.

Ben says: “My dad has always been into motorsport. He used to race cars.

“I raced for three years myself, which I feel very fortunate to have done.

“I’ve always bought cars and had cars. That’s been my weak spot.”

Rather than keeping that passion separate from the business, Ben has found ways to weave it into the character of Kip & Nook.

Vintage models sit within the buildings, while car meets and events have become part of life on the farm.

The Club Room, meanwhile, can host everything from baby showers and corporate events to gatherings centred around the cars themselves.

Ben adds: “I thought, why not bring cars into Kip & Nook?

“I remember looking at the workshop and thinking, ‘What’s cooler than an old BMW?’”

The trick was making them feel part of Kip & Nook’s aesthetic, rather than allowing the place to resemble a car park.

It is an approach that says much about the wider business.

Rather than following a conventional hospitality blueprint, Ben has continued adding the things he likes and the experiences he believes other people will enjoy – gradually creating a destination that feels increasingly reflective of the man behind it.

That doesn’t mean every idea has come easily.

The arrival of Albertos Farmhouse last year represented another significant step in Kip & Nook’s evolution, transforming the site from somewhere predominantly centred around stays and experiences into a destination people could visit simply to eat, drink and spend time.

But creating a restaurant from scratch brought an entirely different set of challenges – and even for someone accustomed to throwing himself headlong into new ideas, Ben admits the experience tested him.

He says: “I was completely stressed for two months.

“It was probably one of the hardest things we’ve done.

“I would never do it again. But now it’s finished, I absolutely love it.”

Named after his son, Albertos Farmhouse brings Italian-inspired dining to the heart of the site, with an interior that could sit comfortably in a members’ club in central London but an atmosphere designed to remain relaxed and welcoming.

And despite the lessons of opening a restaurant, stopping clearly isn’t part of Ben’s immediate plan.

The evolution of Kip & Nook is set to continue, with plans for a large heated swimming pool in the Albertos courtyard alongside a dedicated wellness centre.

But, true to Ben’s vision for the wider site, the emphasis will remain firmly on creating something everyone can enjoy, rather than an exclusive retreat reserved solely for adults paying a premium.

Ben adds: “I want kids to be able to have a dip while they wait for their pasta.

“It should be somewhere everyone can enjoy; that’s what Kip & Nook has always been about.”

It is a simple line that perhaps sums up Ben’s philosophy for Kip & Nook better than any carefully crafted mission statement could.

Make it good. Make it beautiful. But make sure people can actually enjoy it.

And if the North is serious about competing with places such as the Cotswolds as somewhere to visit, stay, eat, do business and escape, it needs destinations confident enough to do things their own way.

Kip & Nook feels ambitious without trying to be London, luxurious without being stuffy and, crucially, unmistakably Northern.

Yet for someone with ideas pouring from every pore, Ben’s five-year plan is surprisingly simple.

He doesn’t want to build Kip & Nook forever.

In fact, he’s determined not to.

He says: “I’ve always said that by the time I’m 40, I want to knock it on the head. Done. Finished.”

It is perhaps the most revealing insight into what ultimately drives him.

For all the ambition, constant ideas and seemingly endless appetite to create something new, Ben isn’t chasing an empire.

He’s chasing freedom.

What he wants instead is remarkably ordinary, but perhaps all the more admirable for it: time with his family, the chance to travel and, most importantly, the opportunity to be present for his boys.

And perhaps that explains why he is moving at such extraordinary speed now.

He adds: “I just want to be a dad. I want to be a good partner, travel the world and enjoy time with my family.

“I’m working so hard now because I know life is a race.

“And when I’m done, I want to be done.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by N Magazine .