OPEN
HOUSE
Harbour House
Skye-Alexander Ferry and Amy-Bosé Wilson
If you don’t know, get to know. Harbour House is the newest up-and-coming edition to the cultural scene of North Shields. Physically, it’ll be a multi-faceted creative hub filled with studios, retail, a restaurant and a bar, with venue hire options for external events. Conceptually, it’s a space designed for lifestyle and community - a corporate-free place that facilitates growth and helps independents and creatives thrive.
We chatted with visionary founders Skye-Alexander Ferry and Amy-Bosé Wilson about unconventionally building the much-overdue hub and redefining the North East's creative landscape.
Interview by Emily Birkett
Photographs by Christopher Owens
Social media is a big part of modern living. Although I’m sure I would have discovered Harbour House upon launch, they were placed on my radar much earlier through the power of Instagram.
After stereotypically sliding into each other's DMs earlier this year, I met Skye and Amy for a coffee in the neighbouring coastal town of Tynemouth, joined by their delightful daughter, Harbour, who the hub is named after. We hit it off.
In fact, not only did social media play a big part in our meeting, but it has also become a core element of their business across many aspects: community building, generating business, and strengthening the brand.
When I asked how important social media was for Harbour House, they said (without hesitation and in sync) that it was huge.
‘From our social media, we had signed 50% of the units before any groundwork had been done,’ Skye explains. They’re up to 80% filled now, with weddings already booked for 2025 to occupy their event space.
“People like real people. We try to make our posts captivating, but we’re not making stuff up. It’s what is actually happening. It’s us, and it’s authentic.”
Harbour House has prematurely found its temporary home on social media, where it has organically forged a community before welcoming the clientele into the space and forming a solid online presence while doing so. It’s been extremely beneficial for helping potential tenants see their vision. Now, thousands of followers eagerly anticipate the phased launch, ready to pounce when the doors officially open later this year and through early 2025, when the restaurant and bar will be in full swing.
‘It’s been one of the big driving forces. When deciding who we would approach, we’d show them our social media, and we’ve been able to segway into a negotiation,’ Skye says. ‘Even before seeing the building, they can see the vibe we’re aiming for, the buzz we’re creating and showing who else will be there. Harbour House can be felt so much on social media, and it’s been nice to hear others say that too,’ Amy adds.
‘Anyone who knows us or Harbour House always says our socials are amazing. It gets frustrating because, in our head, we think if we hit a certain follower count, we’ll look more established,’ Skye admits, something we’re sure is a common thought for those building businesses from scratch.
‘But despite not having the highest numbers,’ Amy continues, ‘our insight and reach are fantastic. Our enquiries are brimming. People might not like a post, but they’ll view a story, so we know people are finding out about us. As long as it’s seen, at the minute, that’s the main thing.’
In turn, it’s been the real-life connections forged offline that are just as powerful and informative as the online follower count. As a trio, we discuss mutual friends and colleagues who sing their praises when their names come up in conversation.
‘It’s so nice because regardless of the following, we know the engagement is there,’ the two unanimously agree.
They’re passionate about their business and Harbour House’s mission but also highly realistic, in tune with how they portray themselves and their brand. In many cases, social media users curate a highlights reel, which can often be unobtainable and lead to comparison, but Skye and Amy want to keep things real.
‘People like real people. We try to make our posts captivating, but we’re not making stuff up. It’s what is actually happening. It’s us, and it’s authentic,’ Amy shares.
‘We’re building an online strategy, where we talk about the problems and pitfalls, what’s almost stopped us and what’s pushed us on. We’re even considering breaking down the cost so that everyone can understand the real stress we’ve had to go through,’ Skye explains.
However, social media is just one cog in a much larger operation.
Their transparency is evident on their public-facing platform and translates behind the scenes to their tenants. A way to combat this, even inadvertently, is to be wholeheartedly honest with the Houseys, as they’re so aptly named internally. The couple isn’t shy about discussing their struggles and updating them on developments.
‘We’re sending monthly emails to let them know the holdups, what’s been a little bit harder, costing us a lot more money or taking longer than expected.’ Amy expands, ‘but also the great news and insider announcements for new tenants. We’re trying to make sure they feel as excited about their space as we are for the whole building so that everyone is on the journey with us.’
‘The original Houseys are the most brilliant people ever; their flexibility and understanding. Naturally, there’s a slight bit of pressure. They want to be moved in ASAP, but when we explain the reason for delays, they get it and emphasise that they just want to be a part of what we’re doing,’ Skye says.
It’s coming together in stages. One tenant is settled in, with other Houseys following in due course. But they’re all the true embodiment of trusting the process.
‘It’s our least favourite question,’ Amy laughs. ‘When can we come in?!’
They openly admit, unironically, that they don’t have actual set dates. But that’s what makes this project even more special. They’re fully transparent, and it’s refreshing to see.
“It’s not just a space where creatives exist. We’ll ensure community building happens constantly through events and business circles that encourage networking”
When envisioning what Harbour House might look and feel like, it’s quite easy to imagine because Skye and Amy live and breathe the project. Sharing and fostering collaboration are within their ethos, so naturally, it has become one of their priorities for the concept.
‘It’s not just a space where creatives exist. We’ll ensure community building happens constantly through events and business circles that encourage networking. Our selection of tenants align so well with big and small brands that don’t overlap, so we know they can work with each other,’ Amy explains.
‘We want to build a wider community where it’s not just the Houseys in the building. Eventually, it’ll grow into membership options where it’ll be a whole inner circle,’ Skye continues.
Where initially they were pitching for creatives to join, now, good, reputable brands are contacting them directly to be a part of the vision, and they’ve been lucky to connect with some great people. From a unit occupation standpoint, it’s somewhat too late, with almost all spaces filled. However, the innovation of Harbour House, with its multiple outputs, allows collaboration to occur in various formats and explore different avenues, meaning there’s room for all to prosper. The opportunities are endless.
As it’s not simply a co-working space or a retail venue when brands or people reach out offering their services, it has prompted them to start building a black book of creatives they can recommend within the network. Although they may not be there permanently as Houseys, they are now part of an ever-growing community of go-getting northerners.
‘We just want to share the wealth and help people get to the next level,’ Skye adds.
They exude passion, and speaking to them is a joy. They recognise how far they’ve come in their careers, albeit still on the journey, and want to pay it forward. There’s no ego. It is even a testament to their visual brand of Harbour House, ensuring the logo is simple to allow brands they welcome into the community to take centre stage.
We chat further about driving their concept to fruition.
‘It’s come from my experience running businesses for twelve years without a network and support from anywhere. And what entrepreneurs and creatives need, in particular, there’s a lack of. I know there’s a big trend right now where people are trying to push the creative narrative, but being in that field for so long, I can see a massive gap in the market for people with our needs,’ Skye says.
‘Growing is crucial to small businesses, and you cannot do it alone. You need the support of everyone around you and the ability to rely on each other.’ Amy's add-on epitomises why a space like this is needed, and she continues providing more insight.
‘Let’s say you’re a designer. You may need to print something or work with someone in digital or multimedia. You may need a website. From our experience, we recognise that so many of us need these services. And it makes sense that they can all be produced in-house.’
‘We also need to programme content that aids the growth of the Houseys and our network because we want to keep them at Harbour for as long as possible. So it may be unique and niche, but it’s up to us to market them heavily,’ Skye says.
They’re confident all this hard graft is going to pay off. The concept has been in the works throughout their careers but refined over the last five years. Initially, the goal was studio spaces with a food and beverage offering. However, after securing the derelict venue, which was once an old indoor antique market named Kasbah, frequently visited by the couple as customers, they were able to review budgets and offer even more amenities due to the scale of the building.
‘As we found a building with such a vast space, the events and weddings have added to the once smaller version in our heads and developed into a beast of an idea.’
“Growing is crucial to small businesses, and you cannot do it alone. You need the support of everyone around you and the ability to rely on each other.”
Not only are they a couple, parents, and business partners, but they’re also a brilliant tag team, and you can see that in the way they bounce off each other in conversation, balancing each other out perfectly. They also recognise each other's strengths. Skye oversees Harbour House as a brand - its creative direction, business development, design, financial, social media and marketing, not to mention being their very own in-house web developer. Amy focuses on events, weddings, creative direction (also), tenants and experience.
Although the project is ambitious, the two boast a wealth of experience, and you can’t help but feel it’s in safe hands. With an amassed career spanning brand strategy, retail and e-commerce, interior design, user experience, and visual merchandising (the list goes on, but we have to stop somewhere), Harbour House is an amalgamation of it all.
They understand independent businesses, especially as they’ve built and continue to run several. One of these is their family-run interior design company, Co, which will move from an industrial estate in South Shields to having its flagship store and showroom in the bricks and mortar of the house. The benefit of this is that they’ll be embedded on the ground and accessible for the Houseys. They'll also be able to see customer flow, chat with visitors, and ultimately be tenants themselves.
It’s been a massive undertaking; emotionally, physically and financially.
They recall the comments they received from friends, family and even strangers when they first took on the project.
“You’re going to spend so much money!”
“What are you doing? That’s not going to work!’ You’re renting it out in North Shields? Are you sure?”
Despite Skye having developed properties for 12+ years, he admits to feeling partial to imposter syndrome.
‘We still get it because we’re doing it in a way that hasn’t been done before. I still wake up now and again and think, “What have we taken on here?!”’
There is beauty in working with a partner, though, in which you can offer that instant support. Amy explains that sometimes, it can be helpful.
‘It won’t often be the case that both of us will be worried about something at the same time, but we have a deep understanding of what's going on and what we’ve got on our hands. We’re able to give each other positive reinforcement and even simply say, “It’s going to be ok.”’
But the Houseys have been nothing but complementary. I flag what’s lovely: Harbour House is about harbouring creativity, independence, and community, which they have created for others to enjoy. But the tenants, in the process, have also supported and cheered them on.
They nod. Skye tells stories about the current Houseys coming to look at the space and their reactions.
‘When I’m on the building site, it feels like nothing is getting done. Because we’re in it, we can’t see progress. But one tenant came in and, two days later, couldn’t believe what we’d achieved. When they say we’ve done loads, I wonder whether we have!’
Amy continues, ‘Of course, we are the leaders, but we all also need reinforcement. We’re creative, and sometimes, we have the imposter syndrome where we think, “Oh gosh, are we doing it right?!" And then you hear something kind and know you needed to hear it.’
They openly chatted with me about the personal sacrifices they’d made.
‘It’s been a lot harder, and it’s taken a lot longer than we would have liked’, Amy admits. ‘There are so many other things we’d like to do separately to Harbour House, but we can’t. In the end, the fruit will be a lot sweeter because we know just how hard it’s been.’
The pressing deadlines surrounding the launch are the current concerns taking up brain space. Skye isn’t a builder by trade, but he’s learnt new skills along the way out of necessity.
‘We’re now trying to get things finished on time. Keeping labourers on site is hard because you constantly lose them to jobs that pay a bit more, and they return after a week or so.’
‘I've been putting my hands to tools to get the project pushed on. Also, I want to show the contractors that it’s not just one way; I’m willing to help as much as possible. There’s no arrogance to it. Even with the positive reinforcement, we’re careful not to let it go to our heads. We have to keep working,’ he continues.
‘I haven’t done manual labour work, but I was pregnant!’ Amy jokes.
We laugh and make light of the situation but don’t skim past the complexities of creating and running multiple businesses while also being a mother. We pivot the conversation back to imposter syndrome. Although we agree that it’s a natural emotion to feel, Amy admits that she’s thought about it a lot since the birth of their daughter, Harbour, who recently celebrated her 1st birthday.
‘First of all, I have to think, do I have the capacity? A lot of the time, it’s no. What about our home? What about the business? What about the family? Can we do it all? But then I just tell myself to wait. Let’s reassess and just look at it differently.’
“We’re creative, and sometimes, we have the imposter syndrome where we think, ‘Oh gosh, are we doing it right?!’ And then you hear something kind and know you needed to hear it.”
What makes the duo even more impressive? They’ve built the new cultural hub with no external funding. Although they’ve done it without help, they haven’t turned it down. It was more that the right financial opportunities weren’t available for their vision.
‘Of course,’ Amy expands, ‘who wouldn’t say no to money to create something like this? We're not opposed to it if it will help us grow faster. However, it hasn’t happened in the right way yet.’
‘When receiving funding, there are set criteria you have to tick. Had we followed this, Harbour House might have been something similar to what’s already out there, and it wouldn’t be as free as we want it to be,’ she continues.
‘There’s also the equity that you have to consider. If the funders take a huge amount of your company, you’re then controlled by a board. And one of our USPs is that we don’t have one. We can say yes or no,’ Skye adds.
‘Another thing is that people recognise we’re independent and want to be involved even more. I’m grateful for Skye because I know how hard he’s worked to be able to finance something like this.’
But if anything, although conscious not to disregard the many challenges, it feels apt and appropriate for it to work operationally without any funding. It’s for independents, built and run independently.
Skye explains that they have peers who have received funding to help regenerate an area like North Shields that needs some TLC, and they’ve done it exceptionally well. They know how powerful funding can be and are certainly not naive.
‘We might be our own worst enemies, though. We’re already supporting the community ourselves, and others may think we don’t need money because we’re proactively doing it anyway.’
This could certainly be true.
The caveat to all this is having the luxury and flexibility to avoid conformity and structure, which often hinders the creative process. Being the sole executors of Harbour House has allowed them to hone in on their Houseys’ needs and make decisions with them in mind, cutting out the middleman. On the flip side, they haven’t been able to accept certain grants because it means creating potential restrictions for their tenants.
‘Part of this dynamic is that we’ve been able to mould everything to preference. A tenant flagged that their middle unit would need natural light. We then decided to put skylights in each room. It costs more, but it’s been such a valuable learning curve to think about the logistical needs of the building. We wouldn’t be able to do that so simply without sign-off from a board if externally funded,’ Skye suggests.
‘All this being said, we would love to qualify for funding and be guided with some kind of financial backing!’ He continues.
We circle back to marketing, noting that they have leeway in expressing themselves and showing more elements of their personality due to all this.
‘Yes, I swear a lot,’ Skye admits and continues to list all the things they can do with free reign:
The content doesn’t need to be PG.
They can tailor and post what they want.
They don’t need to divert away from their look and style.
They describe the atmosphere they’re aiming for, and I would be lying if I said I was anything but excited.
‘We’ll touch on lots of nostalgia but done nicely. Our approach to music is different too. It’s house music, grime, hip-hop, dance and disco. We’re all about reminiscing and creating that London type of space where you can go, and there’s an edginess to it.’
‘Some people will hate it. It’s rare, but we get funny comments, and it does make us giggle,’ Amy says.
Coming from a family of ship workers, Skye was born in North Shields but raised in London from the age of three, and Amy is originally from the capital. After studying in Newcastle over fifteen years ago, they decided to stay, and Skye still has family based in the area. They now call the North East home and have found their little haven on the coast to raise a family and nurture their businesses.
Outside of the work-oriented events hosted at Harbour House, there will be live music, workshops, fitness sessions, talks, and much more, including themes of wellness, photography, and dining.
‘It’s things we like to have in our own lives. And maybe what we’ve been dreaming of - having everything in one place. We know we’re capable of doing it and also doing it well,’ she continues.
I asked them why they chose North Shields as their location rather than the city centre.
‘We have always lived coastally. It’s a nice place to be and one that aids a balanced lifestyle,’ Amy admits.
‘And also, the coast is an untapped market. There are so many creatives here,’ Skye continues.
‘We want people to be able to switch off after they come out of the office. Grab food, go to an event, walk along the Fish Quay or stop at the beach.’
‘In Newcastle, there are other studio spaces that are doing great things, but rates are cheaper here, and we’re able to offer the facilities at an affordable price.’
For years, Tynemouth has been the hotspot for coastal living on the outskirts of Newcastle, and the city centre was the place to be for a vibrant evening out. Nowadays, the adjacent towns are home to a younger generation who can see the area has bounds of potential.
‘We looked at the growth and how Tynemouth was extending. That was in my mind when looking for a building. We didn't even view it when it came up on the market. We put an offer in straight away because we knew the building, and it was accepted the same day,’ Skye looks at Amy.
‘And then it was happening,’ Amy smiles.
‘Then it was like, “Oh shit!” What have we done?!”’ Skye laughs. ‘And we’re still like that, often!’
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