IT WAS a heap big pow-wow that decided it for Julia Warters and her husband, John, owner of Humble Bee Farm at Flixton, near Scarborough.

They had already created three luxury holiday cottages, a holiday apartment in nearby Filey, a caravan and camp site and an on site shop and reception area.

Now they decided to launch their wigwam village to cater for all-year-round holidaymakers.

Such has been the success of the entire Humble Bee Farm complex that the couple have entered their venture in both the Small Business Of The Year and Family Business Of The Year categories in The Press Business Awards 2010.

Business has steadily increased over the last two years in spite of the recession, and it has been given an extra fillip by the appearance of the four wigwams at the heart of the Warters’ 320-acre arable and livestock farm, each of them heated, furnished and complete with their own barbecues and picnic tables.

The holiday complex in the Yorkshire Wolds was started four years ago, after the Warters converted a 200-year-old granary into Humble Bee Cottage.

Then they transformed two stables into four- star gold luxury single-storey cottages, complete with outdoor hot tubs beneath gazebos, log-burning stoves, under-floor heating, superbly appointed kitchens and en-suite bathrooms. Selling points include being able to collect your own eggs for breakfast, the Wolds Way National Trail on your doorstep and being at the heart of a working farm that produces wheat, barley, potatoes and other crops for local companies, including McCains.

It was not all easy going for the Warters – among their challenges was a flash flood in 2008, the global recession and massive competition in Yorkshire, but they overcame all and became stronger.

In fact there will soon be another pow-wow, from which it is hoped will emerge an even bigger wigwam village.