THE owners of one of Devon’s top attractions have revealed efforts are underway to see whether their iconic business could be transferred to family members to run.

Phil and Jacquie Brind, who own The Tiverton Canal Company, announced earlier this year that they planned to retire after 20 years in charge.

Addressing a Mid Devon District Council committee that helps oversee the Grand Western Canal, which the business operates on, Mr Brind said there had been interest in the barge and the outpouring of feeling about it continuing had been significant.

“It is going to be a big pull to leave the business but I wanted to say we do take tremendous responsibility in finding the right person to take it on,” he said.

“We have had a lot of people, officially and unofficially, say what a loss it would be if it didn’t continue, to Tiverton, Mid Devon and Devon as a whole, as the barge is one of the last of its kind.

“We have realised the responsibility we have to find the right people to take it on.”

Mr Brind added some people had suggested they would consider continuing the enterprise with a motor boat, but he stated that he understood “how important it is to find the right people and continue with the horse-drawn barge”.

“And I’m very excited to share publicly that there is also still a possibility for my daughter and son-in-law to take it on, and we are talking to accountants and solicitors now and trying to raise money for that to happen,” he said.

“It’s still early days, but that is my preferred goal, but we will have to wait and see if it is possible.”

The Brinds have owned and operated the attraction since 2005, and the family’s connection to the horse-drawn barge stretches back to the 1980s when Phil’s parents, Pat and Ray, first got involved.

Since then, the business has evolved to become a key part of Devon’s Grand Western Canal, with the couple rebranding it from the Grand Western Horseboat to the Tiverton Canal Company and adding new services including a rowing boat and canoe hire fleet.

A notable transformation came in 2008 with the conversion of a former refreshments boat into the Ducks Ditty Café Bar – a fully licensed floating venue described by Phil as “Tiverton’s pub on the towpath”.

Mr Brind said his father had always said it was best to “finish on a high”, and that after successfully celebrating the barge business’s 50th anniversary, the pair felt “enough is enough”.

Councillor Les Cruwys (Liberal Democrat, Tiverton Cranmore), who chairs the Grand Western Canal joint advisory committee, said: “We cannot lose the canal, barges, and horses – they must stay.”

Mr Brind also raised fears about a planning application that has since been approved by a government planning inspector for up to 100 homes at nearby Tidcombe Hall.

He said he had previously stated he would have been prepared to move the barge elsewhere on the canal and away from the Tiverton basin for fear its existing route could become dominated by houses if there was “development creep” of even further homes after the Tidcombe scheme is completed.

He said that this was not the reason he had decided to move on from the business, though.

The listing for the business’s sale describes it as a “top-performing” seasonal attraction operating from Easter to October, with sole passenger rights for the entire Grand Western Canal. It also highlights expansion opportunities for the future, such as the introduction of electric day boats or additional seasonal events like Christmas trips.