The co-owner of a mid-Wales glamping business has been named among the UK’s 100 most inspiring female entrepreneurs as part of a national campaign highlighting women-led enterprises.
Steph MacDonald, a retired geography teacher, was selected for the 2026 cohort of Small Business Britain’s f:Entrepreneur #IAlso100 campaign, with the full list announced on Tuesday, 6 January.
MacDonald launched Quabbs Cabin in 2025 alongside her husband Paul on their working sheep farm at Rhos y Meirch near Knighton. The couple developed the accommodation as part of a broader farm diversification effort, combining tourism with land management and livestock farming.
According to Nation.Cymru, Quabbs Cabin has since received a Quality Assured Glamping Site gold award from Visit Wales, recognising standards linked to accommodation quality, sustainability, and visitor experience.
The f:Entrepreneur #IAlso100 campaign, founded by Michelle Ovens CBE and launched on International Women’s Day in 2017, was created to spotlight women running small businesses across the UK.
The initiative aims to increase the proportion of female-owned businesses from 20% to 30% by 2030 by promoting visibility, peer support, and access to networks.
The campaign’s website describes MacDonald’s journey in the context of balancing land stewardship and business ownership, stating: “Steph is proof that life’s busiest seasons can also be its most meaningful. Managing the cabin, promoting sustainability, looking after the flock and tending the land with her husband.
“Out of this rhythm of resilience and love grew Quabbs Cabin, a sustainable, hand-built retreat crafted from reclaimed materials, designed for peace and seclusion.
“Steph’s entrepreneurial spirit lies in weaving beauty and purpose from challenge, offering guests not just a stay but a slower, deeper way of living. Her story shows that with vision, heart, and grit, anything can be built.”
MacDonald said she became aware of the campaign during the summer of 2025 and was later invited to submit her story to Small Business Britain. Confirmation of her selection arrived last month. She said, “Having had a full-time job for decades, working on my own is very different, but I am enjoying running the farm and Quabbs Cabin.
“Although I am surprised, it’s great to be selected in the top 100 female entrepreneurs.
“It can only be good to get recognition for women who quite often run a business alongside juggling family life, the school run and everything that goes with it!
“I would now love to support other female accommodation businesses by bringing them together for a cup of tea to share their stories.”
Quabbs Cabin was designed with eco-conscious travellers in mind, using reclaimed building materials and off-grid elements to minimise environmental impact while maintaining guest comfort. The MacDonalds manage a flock of 80 pedigree Zwartbles sheep across their 16-acre holding, which they purchased five years ago.
For outdoor hospitality professionals, the business illustrates how small-scale, sustainability-led accommodation can align with farm diversification strategies, quality accreditation schemes, and national promotional platforms.
Participation in campaigns such as f:Entrepreneur can also offer rural operators increased visibility beyond traditional tourism marketing channels. Quabbs Cabin is a member of MWT Cymru (Mid Wales Tourism), which represents more than 600 tourism and hospitality businesses across Powys, Ceredigion and southern Eryri (Snowdonia), providing further industry connection and advocacy.