We are Alistair and Lorna Handyside, the owners of Higher Wiscombe and have been married for nineteen years. We have three children, Olivia 16, Charlotte 14 and Harry 11.

We met whilst working in London, Lorna worked for the London Stock Exchange and Alistair worked as a senior executive in hi-tech firms. Lorna, as well as running Higher Wiscombe Ltd, and working with Alistair on consultancy projects, is Chair of the Trustees of a Special Needs school and a Governor at Sidmouth College.

Alistair now works as a consultant in a variety of fields. He has provided corporate due-diligence for Venture Capital companies, assists with Company Fund-raising and Turnarounds and provides interim management services and non executive roles. These include:

Chief Executive Officer of Simplexo Ltd: an Enterprise Search Company. This is the position that takes the bulk of Alistair's time currently and takes him to London several times a week. www.simplexo.com

Chairman of South West Tourism: Largest tourist region in the UK. This position comes at a time of great change at SWT, as it transitions away from from being a commercial provider of services to the regions. www.swtourism.org.uk

Director of Premier Cottages: the leading independent cottage group in the UK. Alistair is responsible for the annual production of the brochure amongst other duties. www.premiercottages.co.uk

Director of DEBI, the Devon Environmental Business Initiative. This group promotes environmental sustainability in all businesses via Devon's most prestigious environmental awards scheme.
www.debi-online.org.uk

Committee member of EASCO: (English Association of Self Catering Operators). Currently lobbying HMG on two fronts, the huge rise in business rates being applied to the self catering holiday sector (the highest business rates of any sector in the UK), and fighting the new changes made to furnished lettings announced in the recent budget. www.englishselfcatering.co.uk

Devon Committee of the CLA. Representing Devon branch on BREC (Business and Rural Economy Committee). www.cla.org.uk

Seven years ago we decided to move to Devon to have a complete life change, away from the six day, seventy hour week of corporate life and have successfully swapped it for a seven day, eighty hour week of self employed life. We have managed to create a business that is both successful, varied and most importantly, sustainable.