IF ever a man was destined to found his own business it was Bill Holmes of Holmestead Saddlery. From humble beginnings – a 12x12ft stable in fact – Holmestead has grown today to be a leading supplier to thousands of customers in the equestrian industry. It also employs up to 30 staff with stores at Tyrella, Downpatrick Co Down, and Blackchurch near Kill, Co Kildare, off the N7.

Speaking to Bill recently, you just know the immense pleasure he gets from dealing with his customers and keeping them shopping with him year after year. His hobby he confesses is not golf but horses, and his other hobby is supplying horses, riders, jockeys and trainers with a wide range of tack, clothing and accessories, also available online. His business motto is ‘Give Great Value and Sell Lots’.

Beach business

The story of Holmestead Saddlery is both inspiring and humorous as it began on Tyrella beach when Bill Holmes was 12 years of age. He was riding across the beach to meet a friend near the lighthouse when a busload of children from Belfast arrived.

As Bill hacked by them, they asked, ‘How much for a go on your pony Mister?’ Bill thinking quickly replied it was 10 pence, and that day he made £20. As he says: “That was me away into business as I realised that business is all about you having something that people want to buy and pay you money for.”

Bill recalls: “Business was so brisk that summer that I had to employ a local girl to help me as I was often away show jumping.

"I bought a nice pony with a loan of £160 from my father then turned it into a good showjumper, and I sold him for £350 and that was the capital that set up Holmestead Saddlery!

“My father used to go to Banbridge Horse Fair every month and I would take a day off school and join him. But my interest was the man selling tack from his truck, so I always made a beeline over to him to see how he was doing business. I realised that people were paying much more to him than what I could buy it for through advertisements in Horse & Hound. I next contacted a supplier in the UK and bought two second-hand leather girths for £5 and cleaned them up.

“My neighbour Mr John Doran said one day that he had to go to the tack shop to buy a girth. I told him that I would save him a journey and sold it to him for £5, and that was the earliest Holmestead bargain! I sold the other girth at an auction for £7.

“Some years later, Mr Doran gave me back the leather girth to remind me of my first sale and today it hangs proudly on display in my Tyrella store!”

Bill’s other business philosophy is very simple. “Provide your customers with what they are looking for, not what you are trying to sell them. Look after them by giving them great value and create a customer for life.”

Shows and fairs

As Bill grew into adulthood, he enjoyed the atmosphere of the Dublin Horse Show as it gave him an opportunity to circulate where his customers were congregating. He started to take space at the Dublin Horse Show which was very successful.

Proving that business can be fun also, his first rural show in the south was Holycross in Tipperary.

Business was a bit slow at it when Samuel ‘Uel’ McKee who was helping him got an idea.

Uel was known as a bit of a comedian and mimic so he took the microphone and imitated Rev. Ian Paisley, thanking Bill for venturing so far from home in Co Down to attend the show!

Bill was not sure how it would go down with the crowd and thought about getting into his car and getting out of the showgrounds quickly. But lucky he didn’t as the crowd got curious as Uel was very convincing, they gathered around Bill’s truck and he sold out!

That led to attending other shows and particularly Ballinasloe Horse Fair which Bill attends year after year. At his first fair in Ballinasloe, he developed his sales presentation patter on the microphone as a result of the late Matt Driscoll who told him to shout out the bargains so he could be heard.

The crowd were immediately drawn to his truck and business was brisk!

The Dublin Horse Show and particularly the RDS as a venue was so successful for Bill that he decided to have a Christmas Party there to thank his customers. Promoted as ‘Unlimited free food and drink, with no obligation to buy’, customers enjoyed the party atmosphere and it proved a great success. But he had to arrange taxis for some customers who partied a little too much also but they got home safely!

This extended to a ‘Half price Sale’ every six weeks during the winter in the RDS which he advertised in The Irish Field, the crowds just flocked to it, and it exceeded his wildest dreams. Another reason he credits for his success is that he was open to negotiations when it came to price, which customers liked.

Bill Holmes and Mags Heffernan of Holmestead Saddlery presenting prizes at Balmoral Show

Huge range

Bill stocks everything for the horse, rider, trainer and jockey, and today it amounts to thousands of products with one of the largest list of stock items in the industry. As he buys in bulk from many of the top brands, he can negotiate the best prices, and he can pass that value on to his customers. The extensive range of products on his website and in his stores represent a huge investment.

He stocks over 1,000 new and second-hand saddles, indoor and outdoor rugs and coolers, a vast range of outdoor clothes and footwear, race wear and tack, stable and yard accessories, veterinary care, animal treatments and supplements, clipping and grooming products, studs, arena poles, cups, fillers and wings, as well as a saddle-fitting service on and off site. He offers worldwide shipping and there is always free complimentary coffee and refreshments in his stores.

Great home team

Bill maintains that the reason they are successful is that he and many of his staff are involved with horses, and they have a very good idea of customer requirements as they are users themselves. Bill show jumped extensively when he was younger and he can also be seen on the hunting field in any part of the country. When his store in Kildare was flooded a few years ago, he had to close it for renovations.

So with a little time on his hands, he hunted with 18 different packs, and on a number of occasions, he hunted all seven days in the week. He stabled three hunters and compared riding a grey hunter mare he bought from Paul Doyle (unusually called Luke) to driving a Ferrari!

Managing director Mags Heffernan is from Ballina in Co Mayo and grew up show jumping in the West of Ireland. She furthered her career in the UK and completed her British Horse Society exams and went on to work in a racing yard, training point-to-pointers in Gloucestershire and Scotland, remaking former racehorses into event horses.

Mags is based in Kildare where she oversees the company’s operations and she also spends a lot of her time with a team of six employees on the road providing a saddle-fitting service. She is a qualified fitter of all the top saddle manufacturers.

Bill feels that as users of equestrian products, they are in a position to test them and innovate as many suppliers may not be as deeply involved in horses. As a result, Holmestead Saddlery has been the recipient of numerous awards over the years from all the major brands, too numerous to mention here.

Tyrella origins

Bill’s original store was a 12-foot square stable before he expanded to his present store in Tyrella, which is located in the countryside, and open six days a week up to 10pm. However, it has not been all plain sailing for Bill and his family. His late sister Rachel managed the Tyrella store for many years and was extremely popular with all the customers and horse owners in the surrounding area.

Rachel was a familiar figure competing with her horses and hacking around the roads and beach on her cob Harley.

Sadly in 2016, Rachel (49) lost her brave battle with Lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease in which the human body becomes hyperactive and attacks normal healthy tissue.

Bill wanted to do something positive in honour of Rachel and with his charitable streak, he and his staff arranged to host a charity coffee morning at Holmestead in honour of Rachel.

To date, they have raised over £20,000 for the Lupus Charity. Another nominated charity that Bill supports is the Leinster-based My Lovely Horse Rescue. With the help of Holmestead customers, they have raised thousands for this worthwhile animal rescue charity so far, including €7,000 alone in February this year.

Blackchurch base

Bill enjoyed coming south and doing business so much, particularly meeting the people, and had made many friends attending the Dublin Horse Show, rural shows and fairs, that he wanted to open a store in the south. He saw an advertisement in The Irish Field for Cruicerath Stud and 52 acres at Blackchurch near Kill and bought it.

He sold part of the stud to international showjumper and Horse Sport Ireland Level 3 showjumping coach Jack Doyle, who produces show jumping horses and teaches students from many parts of the world at his centre. Bill opened the new Holmestead Saddlery store in Kildare on September 1st, 1994 which was also the date of the announcement of the ceasefire, bringing peace to Northern Ireland, which Bill felt was a good omen. The store has been an outstanding success.

Rider sponsorship

Homestead’s strategy on sponsorship is mainly focused on young riders, identifying exceptional talent and helping them to get going. Currently they sponsor show jumping riders Leah Stack, John Kirrane (who competes on Holmestead Saddlery Prada), and Katie Nallon.

In the past they have supported show jumping stars like Mikey Pender, Kate Derwin, Ciaran Nallon and Alexander Butler who all have forged amazing international show jumping careers. In racing, Holmestead supports Annalise Cullen and in dressage, Courtney Stuart.

Open for business

During the first lockdown, Bill decided to close the stores and go online as he was aware of the devastation a respiratory virus can cause families, remembering his late sister Rachel.

If he were to reopen his stores, they had to be safe for both his customers and his staff. He got professional advice and designed a strict set of safety procedures, complimented by all the necessary sanitary and spray products.

However, central to that was the installation of a clean air filtration system that is channelled through water that has made him comfortable with reopening the stores.

As a result, customers are shopping as normal while others are ordering on-line and having goods delivered to their doors.

At the end of our interview, Bill remarked to me that this pandemic has taught us that one’s health is much more important in the long run than business.

How true that simple statement is, as we have found out during these strange times!