Farm shop grows fast to rival the very best

Farm shops have come a long way in the past twenty years. Many started out by selling bags of potatoes and trays of tomatoes from the garden wall, but now the genre has become a burgeoning rural industry.

One of the latest to join the sector is living proof that you don’t have to have been born to farming in order to make a success of such a venture.

Katie Taylor owns and runs Drewton’s, based between North and South Cave in the East Riding, but she’s not a muddy boots, grass roots type, instead she’s a dyed-in-the-wool professional having spent 22 years in the family business in West Yorkshire.

James Robinson Fibres Ltd is one of the longest established textile companies in the UK with a history stretching back over 160 years. The Taylor family took over the business 70 years ago and four generations have been involved with it in Huddersfield, Halifax, Bradford and now Taiwan.

Katie’s parents purchased the 1,200-acre Drewton Estate just under a decade ago. The estate, like many in East Yorkshire, is largely highly productive arable land but it also had potential that Katie had spotted via wearing another hat from her days with the family business.

The Taylor family’s business concerns also include renovation of Grade I and Grade II listed properties and Katie had been heavily immersed in property development and interior design. None of this background has gone to waste.

“I moved over here from Harrogate with my two sons Freddie and George not long after my parents came here as I was looking for a complete career change. I was looking to step away from the existing family business and build a new one of my own.

“The farm buildings were in a dilapidated condition but I could see their potential for other usage. It had seemed such a shame that they were being allowed to go to wrack and ruin and I started working on how they could be saved and then pay their way.”

Katie’s years of dealing with planning authorities and restoration were to prove invaluable, although the process of getting everything through still took some considerable time.

“We were able to go ahead with my other plan of holiday cottages on the estate more quickly than the farm shop and we now have two luxury five-star cottages. It took three years to receive consent for the farm shop idea and then we had another two years of building work and working with Yorkshire Forward, but we finally opened in October 2010.”

Undeterred by the many obstacles she has encountered over the years Katie now has one of the best farm shop experiences in the whole of Yorkshire and also one of the largest, on a par with Fodder over at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

“I had a vision of what I was going to do, but I didn’t imagine it was going to be on such a grand scale right from the beginning. I thought we might progress to where we are now in the fullness of time.”

Katie thoroughly researched every aspect of what she was going to do before embarking on it.

“I’m a born organiser; I’m a foodie, I love cooking; and I understand about buildings and getting the most from them. I’ve tried to combine all those things along with learning more about our market place.”

Drewton’s has its own bakery, butchery and restaurant. It also has an area for local arts and crafts, a plethora of Yorkshire beers and is fast becoming an ideal venue for special occasions such as weddings and private parties.

“We now have 48 members of staff either part time or full time and we are open seven days a week, plus Friday and Saturday evenings.

“They are a fabulous team and everyone always steps up to the mark.”

Katie works closely with other farm shops in Yorkshire and has regular meetings where they compare notes on all aspects of the business.