Farm Shop and Quality Butchers For Sale

Business description

The current owners established this business in 2002 recognising a niche in the market for a truly accessible and welcoming farm shop perfectly positoned to service customers both locally and those from further afield. The business supplies customers with the finest, freshest and naturally produced local foods. On the farm the business produces beef, pork, lamb and chickens, home cured bacon, gammon, and home made sausages.
All livestock are handled with care and wander free to produce the natural flavours that are distinctive to this now well established and reputable farm shop.

The beef cattle are housed in spacious buildings, when not in the fields and are fed on barley and sugar beet balanced with protein to fatten the animal to 10/11 months of age. This produces a pink meat, covered with a little fat, which is extremely tender and very tasty.The pigs roam freely over a large area whilst free-range eggs are plentiful from the farms happy chickens. The farm’s lambs are free range grazing on lush grass fertilised with lime and organic fertiliser.

The business also offers an extensive range of vegetables, traditional and exotic fruit, herbs, nuts and other complementary produce that have been carefully sourced from both the locality and abroad. In addition to this it has more recently started to sell a wide range of flowers and plants, many of which are grown on site as well as garden ornaments and pots.

The butchers and the farm shop are fully registered with the local authority with full traceability on all products. All produce is inspected prior to acceptance into stock, ensuring freshness and quality. The business guarantees all products sold to its customers.

Equipment:

The business has an extensive range of plant and equipment as you would expect from a working farm, farm shop and café. A full itinary is avaiable upon request but includes 2 Vans, Tractor, Freezers, Cold Rooms , Shelving, Fixtures and fittings etc. (Estimated value is circa £75,000). The business also utilises Sage accounting software.

Customer Service:

The owners understand that customer satisfaction is key to the success of the business. The business considers simply that satisfied customers come back and on this basis has maintained levels of product and service quality intended to best guarantee this satisfaction. The results of this commitment are evident in the degree of return custom and the high level of repeat business the company enjoys, together with the superb reputation it has forged out.



Key Strengths:

The business offers a very wide range and unique mix of top quality produce to clients with excellent stock levels. Much of its fare is produced either on the farm or locally and has a distinct flavour and consistency. Because of this the business has built up an enviable reputation in the market that ensures very high levels of customer retention and recommendations. The business is growing all the time and has all the infrastructure now in place to sustain this growth over the coming years as it has plenty of spare capacity. The customer base is growing daily and the business is proud to boast some 2000 regular clients. Furthermore the business has little or no competition within the region.

Property information

Location:

The site comprises some 55 acres of prime farmland, 5 acres of which are currently utilised by the existing business and owners dwelling. The remaining 50 acres of land represent significant rental income to a new owner.

• 3 Bedroom Detached Bungalow
• Farm Shop circa 2250 square feet
• Customers café circa 1350 square feet
• Several large modern chicken sheds (circa 3500 square feet)
• Several other outbuildings for use by livestock etc(circa 4000 square feet)
• Large concrete car park with parking for up to 100 cars
• External floodlights
• Planning permission for additional agricultural building of 3,600 square feet

Other information

Expansion potential:

The business has enjoyed impressive growth to date, with average yearly growth figures of 25% being achieved. These figures are expected to continue with the business’s reputation and customer base going from strength to strength. The market for local, fresh, free-range and organic produce is strong and expected to continue growing. The business is ideally positioned to service this growth due to the wide range of offerings it has and its ability to react to client demands.

Key Opportunities:

As well as continued development of the product range the business offers many additional opportunities to a new owner. These include

• Expand the delivery service
• Pet Shop
• Visitors Centre for families to come and see the animals at the same time as shopping and visiting the café
• Development of the garden centre
• Caravan storage
• Erection of further agricultural buildings(planning already approved)
• Light Commercial rental opportunities

There is also a very real possibility that the area may see some future road development that will see the location become even more accessible and potentially a prime redevelopment opportunity!

Competition / Market:

The business’s main form of advertising comes through word of mouth recommendations and referrals. In saying that it also has an interactive website which enables customers to securely buy produce online and browse offerings etc as well as an informative brochure and business cards. The business has previously utilised local radio and occasionally advertises in the local paper . It also has signage on the main road nearby. The business would undoubtedly benefit from the deployment of a more strategic marketing campaign running throughout the year.

Support & training:

The vendor is happy to provide a full business familiarisation training and handover period for the new owner to provide continuity of trading.

Reasons for selling:

Retirement. The business is ripe for continued expansion and would benefit from a new owner with new energy and drive to take it through its next period of growth and truly develop all the opportunities at its disposal

Trading hours:

0800-1700 Monday to Saturday, 0800-1600 Sunday

Contact the seller