In top gear

Beryl and Jane are a two-woman talking tag team. One starts a sentence, the other finishes it; one has an idea, the other runs with it; and, more often than not, they both end up talking animatedly at the same time. While many of us believe the old adage "never work with children or animals" should have the addendum "or relatives", they firmly believe in keeping it in the family.

Beryl Otley has been in the millinery business for the best part of 20 years and now her daughter Jane Wheldon is joining the team. Both are natural enthusiasts, talking excitedly on any number of topics from hats to sheep, and both believe in achieving a work-life balance with the emphasis firmly on the life side of the scale.

Beryl launched Get Ahead Hats, offering stylish hats to buy and hire, from her elegant 300-year-old home at Dutton Farm, off the A59 near Poppleton, after finding it difficult to source a suitable hat for Jane's wedding.

"Everything was so expensive," she said. "I didn't mind paying out a lot of money, but the choice was so limited. I saw a business opportunity and I took it - with a lot of support from my family."

She was in the same position then as her daughter is now. Her children were becoming more independent - Jane's children John and Anna are 14 and 16 respectively - and she was looking after a farm that kept her busy, but not busy enough.

"A lot of women get to a certain age and realise that they need a change of direction; a new challenge," said Beryl. "They want to contribute to life and they want to feel needed."

She met her own need for change head on, and soon realised that she was in a perfect position to help other women do the same. She decided to make Get Ahead a co-operative, taking farmer's wives and daughters from around the country under her business wing and giving them the chance to open their own country-based millinery business.

When she opens her own showroom in a converted granary at Woodlands Farm, her smallholding in Snainton, near Pickering, Jane will be launching Get Ahead Hats number 19, joining 17 other women from Dumfries to Devon who have followed Beryl's lead in the last two decades.

There is a waiting list to join the co-operative, with only two or three new members given the go ahead every year. Of course, being the founder's daughter gave Jane something of an advantage.

"It's ironic that we have come full circle in this way," says Jane, who trained in marketing and retail at The Distributive Trades College in London and has worked for Coates Viyella, helped set up the original Country Casuals chain and managed the fashion floor at Fenwick's when it first opened its York store. "I have always helped out with mum's business, but now I feel it's time to get properly involved.

"Running a business from home suits me at this time in my life. It means I can still taxi the kids about, spend time with my husband Kevin (bindery manager at Pinders' print works in Scarborough) and look after my sheep at the same time."

She has about 20 pedigree Ryland sheep and is looking forward to caring for even more once lambing gets into full swing in April. She has her hands full, but she knows she can rely on her family and friends to pitch in if the need arises.

"Anna and John will muck in if they are needed," she says. "Anna in particular likes getting her hands dirty. And I know I can always call on my neighbours for help in an emergency.

"I couldn't live in a city, I really couldn't. Living in the country I know I can pop next door anytime and borrow anything from a cup of sugar to a tractor."

It is precisely this hard-working, muck-in-together attitude that Beryl wants from her co-operative members. And it is precisely what they get in return.

"We safeguard our girls," says Beryl, who works closely with her husband Barry, a farming consultant and the token Get Ahead male. "We have a duty to them which we take very seriously."

They also have a duty to provide their customers with quality hats and accessories - everything from handmade leather bags to umbrellas - which they take equally seriously.

"We have very different taste in hats," said Jane, who hopes to get more involved in the buying side of the business. "But that doesn't matter. We're not buying for us, we're buying for our customers."

"I am very much a classic," says Beryl. "I'm a Jaeger woman through and through. Jane is much more adventurous. This doesn't mean that I, or any of my ladies, is some sort of country bumpkin though. This couldn't be further from the truth.

"When I first went down to Luton (the heart of the millinery trade) to buy, I think they were expecting this farmer's wife to turn up on a tractor with straw in her hair. They soon learned though. Now they come to see me."

Beryl is very much the Godmother of the business, watching over her co-operative members with a beneficent business eye. She claims she would like to slow down, but to be honest, no one is buying it.

"Mum will never slow down,"says Jane. "It's just not her. She would be too frightened of missing something. I only hope I can bring as much enthusiasm to the business as she has. If I enjoy it as much as she has for the last 20 years, I will be very happy indeed."

"She's very much like me," her obviously proud mum adds. "My mum was the same too - in for a penny, in for pound."

For more information about Get Ahead Hats or to book an appointment, call Beryl Otley on 01904 738656 (beryl@getaheadhats.co.uk) or Jane Wheldon on 01723 850402 (jane@getaheadhats.co.uk). Or visit the website at www.getaheadhats.co.uk or drop in to one of the Snainton launch open days on February 3 and 4 between 11am and 8pm.

Updated: 10:29 Tuesday, January 28, 2003