Superfast fibre makes world of difference to Cumbrian alpaca farm | Openreach

TV presenter Kim Inglis-Jeffries and her husband David Jeffries have found the high-speed technology has been a huge boost for their work and personal lives at Blencogo Farm.

Kim said: "Life before fibre – I don’t really know how to describe it. The internet was so slow here and for the farm we rely on using the internet and social media. We send and use lots of photographs and I could waste half a day trying to send an email with photographs on it whereas now it just goes like that! It’s made the absolute world of difference."

Kim explained how having a fast fibre connection has resulted in them becoming a great deal more productive.

She said: "It’s really important obviously that we can do things on the website – keep people up to date when we have babies born or when we’re doing things like shearing or mating we need to be able to tell people. And now we can do it at the touch of a button.”

Not only has it enabled them to become more productive, it’s also meant they can attract more visitors to the farm.

David Jeffries also runs a business from the farm, Ministry of Doing, which is a company that provides digital services from consultancy through to building websites, with clients all over the world. Having superfast fibre broadband has enabled him to communicate with them a lot better than before.

Kim is also a TV presenter and journalist so she’s very often out ‘on the road’ working, including recording voice overs. She can now send the voice overs from her home on the farm.

But it’s not just about boosting their business. Now they are able to stream media, such as BBC iPlayer and Spotify, and use Facetime to communicate with family.

Steve Haines, managing director for Openreach, said: "Cumbria has some very challenging terrain with some major obstacles to overcome as we deliver high-speed fibre broadband to as many communities and businesses as possible, such as farms like Blencogo.”