Isle of Wight businesses based on a farm site at Hale Common, near Arreton, say they are working together to overcome the challenges posed by coronavirus.

Three of the four firms are neighbours at Macketts Farm - off Bathingbourne Lane.

Isle of Wight Mushrooms says its business has seen significant change since the onset of Covid-19 and now it aims to put its gourmet mushrooms on Isle of Wight shelves. 

It had previously supplied wholesalers and made an 'exhausting' weekly trip to a market London's Hampstead Heath.

A surge in interest in the 'buy local' campaign at the start of the pandemic, combined with local Isle of Wight delivery services springing up to plug the gaps in delivery times offered by overrun supermarkets, has helped weather the storm.

Elsewhere on the site, a seafood business and a biscuit company are joining forces after their own sales were badly affected.

Crab and fish seller Ray Spink has started selling Isle of Wight Biscuit company products alongside the local catch, after the tourist market, the biscuit firm's main source of trade, collapsed in March. 

Also based at the farm site, Clark’s Machinery Services repairs, maintains and sells garden machinery. It says it has juggled its way of working to match the new conditions.