Meet The Team

About Us

Lotus Belle tents was founded by British designer Harriet Seddon in 2012.

The flagship product the 'Lotus Belle' is a unique canvas tent design that boasts all the portability and usability of a standard bell tent whilst affording the roomy luxuriousness of a yurt.

The 5 meter model has 18 square meters of standing space inside with 1.8m of headroom all the way to the edge. This means it can be fitted out with standard height beds and normal household furniture.

Outward curving wall poles are the secret behind the expansive interior space but these also give the structure a rigidity and shape that makes it highly tolerant to strong wind.

The entire tent packs into a bag 40cm x 40cm x 130cm requiring minimal storage space off-season which fits easily in the boot of a car.

Pitching the tent is very quick and easy, a one-person job that takes around 20 minutes.

The tent is hand made from 360-gram canvas so it ‘breathes’ staying cool on warm summer mornings. Naturally the material has all the latest high tech water, rot and fire retardant treatments.

The tent includes a ‘bath tub' style ground sheet that curves up 4 inches all round the edge so that even if the tent is pitched directly onto the ground, the tent remains dry in spite of very heavy rain and/or an already water logged field.

Glampsites in the UK have been using Lotus Belles since they first came to market in 2013 and are still going strong. The tents can be cleaned and repaired easily if necessary.

They come with a one-year no quibble guarantee however even with heavy use the tent should last for many years.

Since its inception Lotus Belle has rapidly come to represent the very essence of boutique camping, defining the Glamping movement and transforming the landscape of festival VIP accommodation.

HARRIET SEDDON - MD & PRODUCT DESIGN

Harriet Seddon was born on midsummers day in Oxford, [UK] 1983 and grew up in the south-west of England. She spent large parts of her childhood camping with her family and with Forest School Camps.

Resonating with the gypsy lifestyle, as a young teenager, she went to live in a tent throughout the summer months. Hari’s mum would often wake her in the mornings from her ‘tent bedroom’ so she wouldn’t be late for school. At 19 Harriet commenced the first year of her design degree where she first drew the initial ideas for the ‘onion dome’ that later became known as the Lotus Belle tent.

In 2012 Lotus Belle went in to its first year of commercial production. Lotus Belle now has licensed distributorships in Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, China, Taiwan, South Korea, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland with the UK currently handling everywhere else.

JESSICA WALSH - LOTUS BELLE AUSTRALIA / NEW ZEALAND & LOTUS BELLE USA

In August of that year, New Zealander, Jessica Walsh, was working on the UK festival circuit. She came across one of the first models of Lotus Belle at Green Man festival. As a passionate environmentalist, Jessica recognised the potential for the product to combat the throwaway culture associated with nylon tents. Jess became Hari’s first international distributor and quickly grew an impressive social media presence.

Following huge success in her native New Zealand Jess went on to head up Lotus Belle Australia and Lotus Belle USA. She now hops hemispheres to catch the summer seasons.

GREG LUCK AND ABBY HAGERMAN : LOTUS BELLE TENTS CANADA

Office location: Haliburton, Ontario, Canada

Greg and Abby both grew up living and camping deep in the Canadian wilderness. They are both lucky enough to live in Ontario's 'cottage country', where many urban people come to find respite from city life, and celebrate the beauty and and joy of wild nature. They are especially passionate about introducing people who wouldn't otherwise sleep outside to the wonderful world of glamping. You didn't hear it from us, but it is possible Glamping may in some cases lead to camping...

They discovered Lotus Belle tents in 2015 when they were looking for a tent to pitch seasonally on their wilderness property and fell in love with the whimsical shape, and functional ease of the Lotus Belle tent. Abby contacted Harriet in the UK to purchase one and before long, a new friendship and business partnership was formed, followed by Lotus Belle Canada's launch in 2016.

WILLIAM SI - LOTUS BELLE - CHINA

Office Location: Fujian Province

William is originally from Mongolia (home of the Yurt) but emigrated South into mainland China looking for opportunity as a young man. After a series of entrepreneurial successes he realised the potential for Glamping in China and has helped champion its adoption across the Far East.

William was on board ever since Lotus Belle first came to market in 2012. He works directly with the team in the UK, overseeing all sales and marketing operations in China and helps to combat the constant threat to our IP from 'copy cat' manufactures in the region.

LIESE GRITSCH - GLAMPINGWELT - GERMANY, AUSTRIA, SWITZERLAND

Office location: Vienna, Austria

Liese is originally from New Zealand but now resides in the beautiful city of Vienna in Austria and then returns to New Zealand each year to escape the European winter. Lotus Belle is the top selling brand of Bell tent in New Zealand so she was well aware of the product from seeing them there and in Australia.

By chance she saw a campsite on a stunning lake in Austria which was offered for sale and initially considered to set up a Lotus Belle glamping site – especially as Austria is well-known for tourism and nature! Appreciating the unique design and sustainable qualities of the Lotus Belle tents, she decided to set up her company GLAMPINGWELT instead and “share the Lotus Belle love.”

“The Lotus Belle tents are not only eye-catchers but they are really a practical and quality product which can be used in so many different ways. The clean aesthetic design enables customers to add their own flair to their project, and I love to hear the stories about what my customers will do with the tents.” [Liese Gritsch]

NICK YOUNG - PIMLICO- SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN

Office location: Seoul, South Korea

Nick is originally from the UK but now lives and works in Seoul running his business Pimlico. Their main focus is importing and selling lifestyle goods and outdoor furniture, however, they also deal with corporate events and equipment rental.

Nick got interested in Lotus Belle in 2013. He had seen the tents making headlines in Australia, New Zealand and the UK and realised it wouldn't be long before other markets would follow suit. They immediately made plans to test the tents and introduce them to the Korean and Japanese market.

“It made sense to add the Lotus Belle collection to our portfolio to enable us to offer 'the' premium range of glamping tents and accessories on the market. Our criteria were strict - we wanted a unique, stylish and well-made glamping tent that wasn’t mass produced and was designed with the environment in mind - therefore Lotus Belle was the only choice! We also wanted an innovative company that would support their product and invest in developing new designs” (Nick Young)

LOTUS BELLE NORDIC

Office location: Svendborg, Denmark

Lotus Belle Nordic is a family-own business consisting of Jørgen Peter and his son Jonas. They discovered the Lotus Belle tents after Jørgen’s wife wanted to develop her campsite in Denmark in 2017. After some research they found Lotus Belle online and ordered a few home which quickly became a success. Every summer since, Jonas and Jørgen have experienced the deep joy that guests have while staying in Lotus Belle tents.

After having been sales agents for some years, Jørgen and Jonas became the official distributor of Lotus Belle to the Nordic countries. They both share the passion to innovate, find new solutions and provide excellent customer service. They also share the passion for the Nordic region and have collectively worked in remote but beautiful places such as Greenland, Iceland and Lofoten.