MENORCA BABY TRAVEL HIRE GRAPEVINE

In December 2020 Daniel, Katy and their 8-month-old son moved to Menorca. They have started their own business, Menorca Baby Travel Hire, and Dan has become Captain of Menorca Cricket Club. Katy tells us their story.

We had just come out of the second lockdown in the UK and things were very uncertain. With rising covid rates and restrictions we decided to take the plunge and move to Menorca. We applied for residency but aside from that we had not really planned very far in advance, it was quite a spur of the moment decision. Covid and Brexit were still having an impact in Menorca, but restrictions had eased due to lower Covid rates.

Daniel and his family have had a very long relationship with the island. They had been coming here for nearly 3 decades and had always felt it was like home. I had been coming to the island with Daniel on holiday for years and, in fact, we always used to buy our copy of the Roqueta whilst here too! Moving during restrictions and away from family and friends has been tough at times but now we are fortunate to be able to travel back to the UK and have our family and loved ones visit us too. I think when you meet people on holiday here and they tell you how beautiful it is and what a wonderful time they have had, it makes you realise how lucky you are to

BY DAN SULLIVAN AND KATY PAINE

be living in Menorca. We had never been on holiday here out of the spring/ summer season, but we adore the winters, you really do notice the change of seasons here. We’ve even been swimming in the sea in December and January, albeit not for very long!

In the UK, Daniel was operating a property maintenance company. I was an English literature graduate and having trained as an English language teacher had taught adults English in a London language school as well as working as a property manager.

Starting Our Business

Once we were here, we decided we wanted to do something where we could work together and that would be flexible around childcare. Having travelled with our son, we knew travelling with baby equipment was not easy. The sheer number of items you need makes travelling stressful, so we talked about a baby equipment hire business for families with young children. We started researching and stocking different items from car seats, pushchairs, sterilisers, travel cots and more. Daniel then constructed a website to give the business an online presence. We decided on the name Menorca Baby Travel Hire and when we heard the traffic light system in the UK had been implemented and was green for Menorca, we were hopeful our business would grow. We did have orders for that spring and summer 2021 (we were so excited when we got the confirmation email for our first order) but when the traffic light system went to amber things came to a halt. We knew the island would not have anywhere near its usual tourist numbers due to restrictions. 2022 and this year have been entirely different, and it is great to see people visiting and enjoying everything that this wonderful island has to offer. The business has grown each year so far, and we have had many repeat customers. A definite perk to the job is greeting clients at the airport or at their accommodation and seeing how excited they are to be visiting Menorca. We have many clients from the UK, but also from all corners of the world including Spain, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, the United States, Australia and more. We are constantly updating stock in line with client requests and based on personal experience with our son. We offer a flexible service with free airport delivery and pick up, and we cover the whole of Menorca for delivery and collection to villas and hotels.

Outside of work Daniel has been captain of Menorca Cricket Club since 2022, having first played for the club 27 years ago as an 11-year-old whilst visiting on holiday. As a family we enjoy going to the various beaches around the island, participating in local events and fiestas and owing to our son we have built up an encyclopaedic knowledge of local play parks in Menorca. Our son is at nursery now and already understands and is speaking some Catalan and Castellano. He has friends who speak multiple languages fluently at 3 years of age, and it is incredible to see the progress he has made.

We live on the north of the island and love it here, although the occasional tramontana can literally take your breath away. The cultures and traditions of the island are fantastic, each town is unique. We meet many people who grew up here and having moved away for work or further education have come back once they have started a family as they say it is like the motherland calling you home. Menorca is such a beautiful and safe environment to raise a young family.

We often get asked by clients for recommendations on baby friendly beaches, restaurants and places to go and we discover new places all the time. It is great because we will have a delivery in Binibeca and then one in Cala Blanca. We have visited clients at resorts and beaches that we had never been to before and delivered to some unbelievable properties and hotels with the most incredible views of the island. We are often at Mahon airport too, delivering and collecting items. So, if you are visiting the island and see someone with a car seat/ pushchair/ perfect prep machine/ baby jumperoo (and sometimes all of the above at once) waiting in the Arrivals hall, that would be us! https://www.menorcababytravelhire.com/ info@menorcababytravelhire.com +34677224379