IN this week’s SME Focus we hear how a farming family developed a thriving retail and leisure business in response to the challenges they faced making a living on the land.

Name:

John Sinclair.

Age:

47.

What is your business called?

Craigie’s Farm Deli and Café.

Where is it based?

In a rare bit of countryside between Edinburgh and South Queensferry with some truly spectacular views!

What does it produce, what services does it offer?

We are farmers who have diversified into farm retail and food, with a shop, deli and café, as well as outdoor activities such as walks, animals, summer fruit picking, a play area and more.

Whom does it sell to?

Our core customers are located within a 10 mile radius, but in the summer our pick your own fruit attracts customers from a 100 mile radius.

What is its turnover?

Currently £2 million and growing.

How many employees?

We have 40 regular staff with numbers peaking at 60 in the summer. It is great having so many staff on the farm, it makes it a really fun place to work.

When was it formed?

My father got the tenancy of the farm in 1966 and we opened our first shop in 1988. Kirsteen (my wife) and I have grown it from there, with the real development starting in 2007 when we opened the café and the hard word started!

Why did you take the plunge?

Our farm was just too small to support us farming conventionally so we had to do something else so that we could carry on doing what we love doing. We are also in a great location, close to Edinburgh and Fife.

What were you doing before you took the plunge?

I was getting my hands dirty farming! If you look at my hands now they are certainly not ‘working hands’! I don’t get to do much in the way of real manual work now that I am developing the business.

How did you raise the start-up funding?

We borrowed lots of cash from the bank and prayed! We also sold off our farm machinery which helped. When we added our first extension on in 2007 we were successful in sourcing EU funding which paid for half of the works and secured lots of local jobs.

What was your biggest break?

When we stopped supplying the supermarkets in 2011, we were then able to do what we thought was best for our customers and not what the large multiples were telling us to do! Freedom!

What was your worst moment?

It has got to be losing my father in 1995. He sowed the seeds but unfortunately died too early, aged 57. There hasn’t been a day in the last 20 years when I don’t think, ‘What would dad have done?’ However, I do know that he would have been immensely proud of what we have built.

What do you most enjoy about running the business?

Seeing happy customers and having lots of people on the farm. Farms are generally very mechanised now so can be lonely places to work, it is great to see so many people working at Craigie’s it gives the place a real buzz. I am also really driven by growing the business.

What do you least enjoy?

There is very little I would change but I hate bureaucracy and jobsworths! It feels to me like there are too many people with a little power who do not have the will do get things done for the good of the country.

What are your ambitions for the firm?

To open a second site. We have two main customer groups, retired couples and young families. The two do not mix that well so I see us opening a second site close by so that we can cater for both, separately. The second site could be a bit of a nightmare with lots of screaming kids, however I think it will be great for staff development, anyone turning up with a hangover would be put to work in the playbarn…..

What are your five priorities?

Community, commitment, trust, provenance and improvement.

What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help?

It feels there is one set of rules but each local council interprets these differently across the country. This is a real challenge for small businesses. I am happy to follow any legislation as long as it is consistent the length and breadth of the country so that we all have a level playing field.

For example, I am happy with a ban on growing GM crops in Scotland if there is also a ban the sale of GM products from other countries in Scotland. The pig industry is an example of a once thriving sector that has been decimated with a set of welfare rules being enforced on the production side although it was ok to sell product from other countries produced to different welfare standards.

What was the most valuable lesson that you learned?

Learning to take time out of the business, it manages just fine (if not better!) when I am away and everyone needs a break sometimes.

How do you relax?

Playing golf (badly), curling, cycling and heading off in the caravan with Kirsteen. The odd beer or glass of red helps as well.

I am also on the Board of Directors of the Royal Highland Show (I look after Scotland’s Larder Live (Foodhall) which is extremely hard work and long hours (we do play hard as well) but does offer me a mental break from work at home. It helps to support an event which is central to the connection that Scotland’s farming industry has with the rest of the population.