“Onwards and upwards”

On The Farm with

Jimmy Doherty

Suffolk farmer and retailer

• Becoming a B Corp
• Top trend predictions for Christmas 2021
• Self-sacrifice: The importance of building a leadership legacy centred on others
• Undercover Boss
• Can/should bosses really be close friends with their staff?

The New Year is a time for looking ahead. Working Farm wise, we’re looking forward to the spring when the mornings are that bit lighter and a little bit warmer! It’s a way off, but we know that lambing will be with us soon enough and whilst hardgoing, it’s part of the cycle of farming that is always so rewarding

Our plans for the coming year are based around really making sure that what we offer to our customers is the best it can possibly be. We are working really hard on focusing our marketing on the right audiences. As much as 2016 was about building and moving forward, 2017 will be about refining, sharpening up and really talking to our customers, understanding as much as we can about who they are and what they want.

We still have big plans – the Farm Park will have an extra attraction this year and we’re putting investment in to the overall look of the public areas. It’s something that needs to be kept on top of for aesthetic reasons, but also to make sure that footfall around the site is optimised and that our other concessions can make the most of all visitors.

It’s exciting times in the Farm Shop, with a new man at the helm, Tim Johnson. As an ex golf-pro and restaurateur, Tim is looking forward to the new possibilities the shop offers to Jimmy’s Farm customers. Over to Tim: “Having the springboard of the Jimmy’s Farm reputation is a fantastic opportunity for me. Working alongside the established relationships with our current suppliers is really exciting, but I will also be looking to source new lines and offer the customer an even more interesting and diverse shopping experience. We want people to leave the shop having found a unique local product with a great story. The Farm’s butchery produce sitting alongside the Farm Shop’s is really complementary. People will know they’re going home with something really special.”

It’s really great to have Tim on board and things are going just as well with our online butchery. We relaunched back in October just in time for Christmas orders and it has been great for us. We increased our sales in regular orders as well as Christmas products, and whilst it’s early days, we are seeing repeat custom grow. We ship nationwide, which means that the Jimmy’s Farm brand is growing beyond Suffolk.

So, on to 2017! 2016 at times felt unsettling and that can have an effect on a visitor attraction like ours. We also had lots of change at the Farm with our renovations and zoo licence, which at times felt like a risk. Our customers have been really great and told us that it’s all been for the better, so it’s onwards and upwards for the team and we’re looking forward to another great year at Jimmy’s Farm.