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Welcome to our story

Every brand has one, and each is unique. When we look back, our story is founded on three primary principles; family, hard work, and vision. Although, most of the time, if you asked any of us about our history and founding idea, it could be more simply described as 'horses'.

Chapter 1 A dream of Devon

In the early 90's, having spent many years on the showjumping circuit and running a busy livery yard in Surrey, England, it was time for John and Louise Tuff to think of the future. Horses were their passion, but there were only so many more times they could go to a horse show knowing they needed to win the diesel money to get home! With the arrival of their first son Ben, combined with the success that John's teenage son Justin was enjoying on the circuit, something had to give. John decided to retire from competing to let Justin take the reins (at Redpost we like a good pun!) as the start of a new adventure was unfolding. John and Louise had stumbled across a plot of land with a (very) small feed store for sale in Devon, and the dream of moving to the countryside, selling a few bags of horse feed, and sitting outside the shop chatting to the locals was born. Luckily, the bank agreed that there were enough hungry horses to sell feed to, and so the family packed up the horsebox and headed for Devon. You could say things worked out a little differently...

Chapter 2 Bootstrapping

Shortly after buying the land, the existing tenant closed their feed business and so in the summer of 1992, Redpost Feeds was born. To help keep the business afloat in the early years, John travelled back and forth to teach in Surrey while Louise was busy running the feed store with toddler Ben and a faithful Alsatian called Josh in tow. 'Bootstrapping' would be an understatement; with the family living in a mobile home on the land at Redpost and little money for anything fancy in those days, the shop was built DIY-style using whatever materials were lying around.

Chapter 3 Early Years

Ben's brother Mikey arrived in 1995, and business was growing bit by bit. Redpost started branching out and began stocking the first pairs of jodhpurs, and each year the clothing and tack ranges grew with brands such as Mark Todd, Ariat, and Pikeur starting to appear in the shop.

Being built into what was originally a concrete pig sty, the shop had various extra rooms added to it over the years; in typical Redpost fashion no two walls or bits of furniture looked the same! Each extension was created with whatever materials could be found - ideally free, but at the very least second- or third-hand.

In 2003, Redpost Feeds became the now familiar Redpost Equestrian Ltd, as we began to represent more of what we are now; a one stop shop for all things equestrian. By 2006, the team had grown to around six people, and with strong ties to the local community Redpost was honoured to be named BETA Feed Merchant of the Year.

Chapter 4 A new direction

Ben started working at Redpost at the weekends whilst still at school. Starting out working on the shop floor and doing local feed deliveries, before joining the business full time after finishing his A-Levels. After a brief stint at university Ben decided there was no time like the present, and, along with future wife Claire, returned to Redpost with a vision in mind. It was time for a new direction; John & Louise had built a well-loved local business John's dream of chewing straw and waving to passers-by was well within reach, but Ben & Claire laid out their dreams and a new adventure began.

Chapter 5 Testing the future

In terms of the digital age, 2011 now seems prehistoric. In those days, an online store wasn't simply a few clicks away. Professional web designers were expensive, and Redpost couldn't afford the going rate. Despite mixed feelings from his parents, Ben risked his savings on a company that would outsource to India for a fraction of the cost, and the first Redpost website was launched. It was rudimentary - updated manually each day with a floppy disk! - but it proved its point: Redpost was on the path to digital revolution.

Chapter 6 More like today

It was definitely not an overnight success story. Ben spent most of 2011 listing items in between packing orders himself and taking them to the local post office. We're not talking van loads either; in the beginning it was just a few a week. As orders built up, it started causing a bit of a queue at the local post office, and so before Ben got any more angry looks from the villagers, Redpost started getting its first collections from the couriers. By the end of 2012, with the website showing promise, we moved website providers - to the same one we use today - and the online Redpost experience started on its journey to what you see today.

Chapter 7 Growing pains

Eventually, we stopped packing the orders in our tiny, windowless, office and began packing them in a converted stable, using a pool table with a piece of plywood as a work top. As upgrades go, it wasn't much. At some point during our time packing in this "packing room" we even nursed an injured pheasant who would get turned out during the day and live on the pool table at night. It was in this space that we managed to last seven years, all the while really learning our craft; improving customer service in every way we could think of, offering more and more lines on our website, and adding lots of new features.

While Ben focused on the online and marketing side, Louise & Claire did the buying, managed the shop, and provided specialist knowledge. John ignored retirement and, in his own words, wandered around being a nuisance - although to his credit, he still comes up with the odd good idea between jokes. Our shop, office, warehouse, and packing room were all bursting at the seams, but by 2019 we were finally able to construct a purpose-built space that could do justice to what Redpost had become.

Chapter 8 A fond farewell

Just before the coronavirus pandemic hit, we moved the warehouse and office into the new building, while the shop, our original 'Aladdin's Cave' that held so many memories and had kept us going since 1992, followed us in April 2021. The new space has really allowed us to accelerate forward and make further improvements to all our services. Our new office - which actually has windows! - has given us space for the 'behind-the-scenes' team to grow and work much more comfortably, the warehouse and packing areas are laid out much more efficiently, and the shop and cafe now offer a fantastic experience to customers travelling to visit us.

Chapter 9 Getting social

Social media plays a big part in the Redpost story. As the world moved online, we could, at last, directly connect with our community, share stories from the shop, and bring our customers instant updates on new products. We started with Facebook back in 2009, but today we can be found on nearly all the social channels. #RideWithRedpost is used by our customers and riders link our community together, and we have a team of Redpost Riders that includes actual family members Mikey and Oliver Tuff, as well as our other incredibly talented riders. Ben and Claire can often be found out and about showjumping, although horses will probably be swapped for ponies soon, with their children Leo & Emily - the next Redpost generation - growing up fast. Nothing makes us happier than seeing the Redpost community come together to share our love and enjoyment of horses.

Chapter 10 Awards

We aim to put the customer first in everything we do, and over the years we have been honoured to be recognised with both our high customer review scoring and in the industry awards we have picked up along the way. It started with BETA Feed Merchant of the Year in 2006, and since then we have won BETA Employee of the Year, Retailer of the Year and Marketing Effectiveness awards in 2014, 2015, and 2022 respectively. We have been finalists for BETA Retailer of the Year in 2012, 2014, 2021, and 2022, and we were also part of the Lightning 50 Fastest Growing Ecommerce companies in 2021. Our (perhaps not so little now) shop from Devon has done us proud!

Chapter 11 Family spirit

It's safe to say we would be nowhere without our team. As well as the Tuff family there is now a 50+ strong team that feels like an extended family. We could not be doing what we are doing without our amazing team behind the scenes and our fantastic, loyal customers. It might sound corny, but this is just the beginning for us. We hope to continue building our Redpost community of riders, followers, and horse lovers, both in Devon and across the globe. The world will continue to advance technologically and we will be ready for it. The reason we do it remains very simple; our ultimate aim is to increase and enhance time in the saddle or at the yard, and to continue to bring together the equestrian community. As Winston Churchill famously quoted "There's something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man".

Useful Links

Meet the Team In Store The Stable Cafe Redpost Riders Blog

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