AN enterprising Bury couple have used a former horse box which cost £500 to create their business dream.

Husband and wife team Andy Banner, 36, and Cheryl 35, of Bolton Road, spent one year converting the old box into an outdoor gin bar resplendent with sink and fridges, after major alteration to strengthen the van were undertaken

Cheryl said: “We had always talked about having our own little business on the side but when we looked at the costs involved like owning an ice cream van, the costs were huge.

“However, he arrived back one evening last year and said he had something on the drive and when I looked outside it was an old horse box, which was 60 or 70 years old and needed a lot of work doing on it.

“Andy has spent 12 months strengthening the box and putting in a new floor, the bar and artificial grass, which combined with the fridge, optics and sink, cost us about £2,000.”

The newly renovated box made its new lease of life debut at the Garstang Ice Cream Festival in mid-July, where it attracted the attention of crowds of people wanting to try out some of specialised gins and refreshments on offer.

Cheryl explains: “Because we have family in Sweden we called the new venture Fika, which in Swedish means naughty but nice and its appearance on the Fylde coast went down very well.

“Currently, it’s a part time hobby and I work as a training manager for an insurance broker, but if every event is as successful as Garstang, we could be well on the way to turning our little business venture into a huge success.”

The couple are now looking at the business potential and have a number of events lined up around the North West but also includes a Christmas market in Beverly, North Yorkshire.

If anybody would like to book the couple and their mobile bar for a wedding or celebration they can contact them by e-mail on fikabox@mail.com