Christmas on the Lakes appears on Channel 4's Steph's Packed Lunch

Carmen Hunt, owner of Christmas on the Lakes in Bowness, has seen orders pile in after she showed off her festive products on Channel 4’s live lunchtime show Steph’s Packed Lunch on Thursday (November 26).

“Within minutes from walking back from when our section was aired my phone was already pinging with orders,” said Ms Hunt.

“It was amazing we had loads of new orders and that carried on over the weekend.

“And on social media we were getting messages and it increased our followers on Instagram and Facebook.

“Our own customers, plus our peers in the business community in the Lakes, have been so supportive and encouraging because it was very nerve racking, I was out of my comfort zone.”

The businesswoman joined three other independent businesses to set up a stall in Leeds where she displayed products and spoke to journalist and host Steph McGovern about running an all year-round Christmas shop.

“Steph and Luke Kempner, who is a comedian and impressionist, they went through each of us asking about how business had been this year,” said Ms Hunt.

“And us in particular they asked do you feel people are more Christmassy this year? The usual question of do people buy Christmas decorations all year round?

“It was a general platform to let us show what we do and fantastically they asked us to do some video footage and in the ad breaks and the run ups they showed the walk through of our shop, which was amazing.”

The experience was Ms Hunt’s first time on television.

“We took as much stuff from the shop as we could and set up a nice-looking stall and then they did a run through and got us used to mics and cameras,” she said.

“Because none of us had been on TV never mind live TV.

“It was quite surreal, but a fantastic opportunity and they were very supportive.”

The shop owner is now looking forward to the run up to Christmas and the re-opening of her store.

“We’ve been in everyday, packing up orders and we’ve been doing a magic letterbox for the local community,” she said.

“Children can come and post their letters to Father Christmas and we’ll send it via the magic elf and a reply will come from Father Christmas to let them know they are, hopefully, on the nice list.

“We can’t wait to open and see everybody.”