We can all agree that it’s been an unforgettable year that was a bit more “whoopsie” than “whoopee”, but some wonderful things really did happen this year and we should all be proud of our resilience and strength in the face of the pandemic.
First of all we want to say thank you to Bristol for welcoming Yuup with open arms. This time last year we celebrated 900 guests booking experiences through Yuup, now at the end of 2021 we can say that over 9,000 guests have signed up to have fun with us!
So, apart from gaining a couple of thousand new friends (gosh, we feel like the cool kid saying that) what else have we been up to this year?
Well first of all we welcomed a lot more hosts to Yuup. We’ve said “Ooh! Glad to have you on board!” to over 170 hosts this year and there are well over 400 experiences in Bristol to choose from. Each one of the hosts is an absolute diamond, passionate about what they do, and super eager to share that passion with the city. How neat is that?
Yeah that is neat! What else?
We also turned one. Yes we know we don’t look a day over 8 months, but it is true! We celebrated our first birthday in September with some very tasty cupcakes all iced in Yuup colours from our friends, and fellow small local business, All About the Cooks.
Our little team grew in more ways than one… We started the year as a teeny tiny team: founder Dominic, marketing manager Gemma, experience operations manager Cameron, and photographer Felix. Since then we’ve added a bunch of shiny new faces into the team: experience curators Ysemay and Holly, content editor Siobhan, experience coordinator Naomi, social media manager Paul, and content writer Nat. Speaking of growing, our lovely Gemma has grown a rather impressive tum over the last few months and will soon be mum to a rather impressive young lad! (Yay!)
This is awesome! So you've been pretty busy huh?
We sure have! This year we turned side hustles and dreams into actual income for Bristol locals. You lot signed up for over 15k experiences (gosh you’ve been busy!) with 3,273 experiences bought in November. As a result of you eager beavers over £300k in income was generated for indie businesses and side hustlers! So big pats on the back all round we think!
Let’s look at what this means without numbers though. You gave a forager a glint in their eye as they pointed out veg in the hedgerow, you gave a potter a warm fuzzy feeling when you threw your first bowl, you gave a dancer the spring in their step, you gave a beekeeper a buzz of excitement… You made someone feel valued, you helped someone else pay a bill, you shared an experience with someone that you’ll cherish and they’ll never forget.
And that’s what this year has really been about for us, and that’s what it will be about going forward. It’s about people sharing moments, creating memories, following their passions, and discovering those little things that make life so awesome.
Oh hello 2022, what are we going to do with you?
We’ve got a few things cooking in the kitchen and believe us, it’s going to be tasty!
We’re currently on the lookout for a couple more fresh faces to add to the team and we’re really excited to welcome them into the fold. We’re also readying our wings to expand through Bristol and beyond since we’ve made a neat little nest here.
This is all we’re going to say for now, but yeah… 2022 is looking pretty cool.
So thank you Bristol, you’ve been brilliant and we can’t wait to spend 2022 with you!
