We started working with Carbis Bay in 2022 with a single film for their beachfront restaurant, Walter’s On The Beach.
That project turned into another, then another, and somewhere along the way it became something bigger: a genuine creative partnership that now covers almost all of their visual content.
We started working with Carbis Bay in 2022 with a single film for their beachfront restaurant, Walter’s On The Beach. That project turned into another, then another, and somewhere along the way it became something bigger: a genuine creative partnership that now covers almost all of their visual content.
Today we handle video and photography across the entire Carbis Bay Collection. Brand films, seasonal campaigns, social content, website video headers, event coverage, new brand launches. The collection’s marketing team and ours work closely together throughout the year, planning what’s needed, capturing it at the right moments, and making sure everything feels like it belongs to the same family.
They were actually our first Content Library client, and in many ways they helped shape what that service has become. Their team knows exactly how to use it: pulling clips and stills for reels, stories, carousels, and mixed media posts whenever they need them. They’re never starting from scratch, and it shows.
The result is a brand where everything blends. The video headers on their website, the reels on Instagram, the photography across their channels: same eye, same light, same feel. That kind of visual consistency only comes from one team handling the full picture over time.
Carbis Bay Collection has grown significantly since we first started working together. What was originally known as Carbis Bay Estate has expanded into a portfolio of distinct brands, each with their own character but connected by a shared standard of quality.
Carbis Bay Hotel is the heart of it. The hotel itself, the luxury beach lodges, a private beach, C Bay Spa, The Orangery, the Deli, and Walter’s On The Beach: a beachfront restaurant and cocktail bar with serious food credentials. The location alone is stunning, but it’s the breadth of experiences within one estate that makes it such rich ground for content.
POD St Ives is a newer addition: a luxury glamping experience on the edge of St Ives. We helped the marketing team launch this brand from the ground up, building its visual identity through seasonal shoots that capture everything from fireside winter warmth to summer pizza nights under the stars.
The Gannet Inn and The Basset Arms are also part of the collection. We’ve supported both with photography and content: shooting menus, interiors, and building out their visual presence. Still early days, with more to come.
For us, working across multiple brands within one collection is a brilliant test of what we do. Each brand needs to feel distinct, but when you step back, they all need to sit together. Getting that balance right is one of the things we enjoy most about this partnership.
Our very first project with Carbis Bay was a film for Walter’s On The Beach, their restaurant and cocktail bar right on the sand. The brief was simple: get the word out and show off what makes this place special.
We filmed across an evening. The focus was on the food: stylish, well-presented plates coming out of the kitchen. The chefs working with care. Cocktails being built with precision. The whole thing had this relaxed, warm energy that felt true to the space. It’s a cool restaurant in a genuinely beautiful setting, and the film needed to feel like that without trying too hard.
It was a short piece, but it ended up being shortlisted for the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year 2024 award in the Food Film Shorts category. We didn’t win, but to be recognised alongside food films from around the world felt like a proper moment, especially for a project that kicked off what’s become one of our most important client relationships.
Hotels and hospitality venues live and breathe through the seasons. What draws someone to book in July is completely different from what fills rooms in November. For Carbis Bay, we capture content across the year to make sure their marketing never goes quiet and always feels current.
Summer is about the location at its best. The beach, the water, families in the lodges, the gardens in full colour. Drone work over the bay, kids on the sand, that feeling of a proper British coastal holiday. This is the content that sells the dream.
Autumn brings a different energy. We’ve covered events like themed Afternoon Tea in The Orangery, helping to fill the venue during a traditionally quieter period. Warm lighting, seasonal menus, that cosy atmosphere that makes people want to visit even when the summer crowds have gone.
Spring means fresh starts: spa days, treatments, the gardens coming back to life. And for POD St Ives, it’s saunas, massages, and that sense of escape without going far.
The rhythm of shooting across seasons means the collection always has relevant, timely content ready to go. Their team can pull from the Content Library whatever fits the moment, whether they’re promoting a bank holiday offer or filling a late availability gap.
The Christmas campaigns deserve their own mention because they’ve been something special.
Each year, we work with the Carbis Bay team on a “12 Days of Christmas” content series. Twelve individual pieces of content released across December, each showcasing a different part of the collection’s festive offering. The Orangery dressed for Christmas dinner. The spa in full winter mode. Family moments in the lodges. Cocktails at Walter’s. Afternoon tea with a seasonal twist.
But it’s the less obvious moments that really make these campaigns stand out. One year, Santa was supposed to be delivering presents to a lodge but got distracted, poured himself a glass of champagne, and jumped in the hot tub. The local ladies swim club, The Swans, did a Christmas sea swim and were honestly the happiest group we’ve ever had on camera. And then there was the Nutcracker piece: we invited a group of young dancers from a dance school in Hayle to perform a modern take on the Nutcracker inside the hotel, ending up on the beach. Ballet on the beach. It was one of those ideas that could have gone either way, and it was absolutely beautiful.
There’s an infectious positive energy to creating Christmas content. The number of people who are keen to get involved with the shoots is amazing, and it gives everyone permission to have a bit of fun and make something slightly less serious. These campaigns have been genuinely successful in generating traffic and engagement across the collection’s social channels. They give the brand something to talk about for weeks, and the content keeps working long after the decorations come down.
Brand Manager, Carbis Bay Collection
POD St Ives was a different kind of challenge. Rather than creating content for an established brand, we were helping to launch something new. The collection’s marketing team needed a visual identity for their luxury glamping offering, and we built it with them through a series of seasonal shoots.
We’ve filmed POD across different times of year, and each season tells a different story. Winter means mulled wine by the fire, board games in the living room, the warmth of being tucked away somewhere special while it’s cold outside. Spring brings spa treatments, saunas, and that feeling of renewal. Summer is all about the outdoor bathtub, pizza nights using the on-site ovens, families around the hot tub while the dog watches on.
Every shoot adds to the library, and the POD team uses those assets constantly. The result is a brand that launched with a visual confidence most new hospitality businesses take years to develop.
Our partnership with Carbis Bay Collection continues into 2026, with new parts of the collection to capture and new stories to tell. This is a relationship that keeps growing, and we’re looking forward to everything that’s ahead.
