About us

The Farm Retail Association (FRA) began its life as the the Farm Shop and PYO Association (FSPA) on October 11, 1979 at the Farmpick Conference in Birmingham.

Realising that the farm retail industry had no supporting body, a group of like minded farmers took the reigns and began their own. To this day, we adhere to the same principles, supporting, sharing and learning with one another. A great many people and businesses have benefited from membership of the Association over the years, many being farmers who have had to learn retailing from scratch.

Above all, the association has enabled many lasting friendships and local groups to develop. We have shared a drink; shared our bright ideas and our problems; emulated each other’s successes and tried to avoid each other’s failures. We have a network of friends all over the country where we can call for a chat.

The association is proud and thankful to have always had a passionate team of people championing the families, teams and businesses who grow and sell Great British produce, and we’re always delighted to welcome friendly faces old and new.

Whatever area of farm retail you are from, we are here to help you and your business. We are Stronger Together.

Council members

The Council acts on behalf of the Association and its members, and is responsible for establishing the policy of the Association and management of its affairs and activities. Please meet our current Council members below. Applications to join Council are welcome and can be submitted to hello@farmretail.co.uk

Emma Mosey, FRA Chair

Emma Mosey, FRA Chair

Emma runs Minskip Farm Shop and Yolk Farm in Boroughbridge with her husband Ben. They left careers as a novelist and an exploration geologist to purchase their farm shop 6 years ago, and have grown turnover 6 fold and opened the world’s first egg restaurant on a free range egg farm in that time. Emma enjoys being on the council to learn from more established farm shop owners.

Peter Turk

Peter McTurk

Calcott Hall is a family run business and our aim is to provide a pleasant and friendly shopping experience, very different from large supermarkets. We grow a range of vegetables and fruit throughout the year and source locally whenever possible.

McTurks have been farming at Calcott Hall for over 40 years. Our farm is 120 acres (equivalent to about 70 football pitches) and was formerly a dairy farm. From humble beginnings selling potatoes and sweetcorn from boxes in 1974, much has happened at Calcott Hall and we have grown considerably. We renovated an old Essex barn in 1983, and have gradually used more and more of it as our shop needs have grown.

Jeremy-Jagger-(web)

Jeremy Jagger

Jeremy is the 7th generation of his family to be farming at the Albrighton Estate near Shrewsbury. Battlefield 1403 was opened in 2008 and is located in the buildings of a former dairy farm. The name comes from its location on the site of the Battle of Shrewsbury fought between Henry IV and Sir Henry Percy (Harry Hotspur).

Battlefield 1403 consists of a farm shop, butchery, deli, café and exhibition. The shop sells beef, lamb, woodland pork and firewood all from the farm as well as a wide range of locally produced foods and its own Battlefield range of home cooked produce.

Having benefitted hugely from the support and friendship of the FRA over the years Jeremy is delighted to be involved with the FRA council and the FRA West Midlands Regional Group.

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Kathryn Mitchell

The Lambing Shed Farm Shop & Kitchen was opened in September 2015 by Kathryn and her father Michael, it is housed in the very building where Kathryn’s grandfather lambed his sheep many years ago. The farm remains a working farm today with Michael and his son Robert rearing both cattle and sheep, supplying the farm shop butchery with home reared meat. The Lambing Shed also has an 80 seater cafe and production kitchen, with a team of chefs that supply the farm shop and deli with a wide range of home made produce.

Will Simkin

Will Simkin

Will is a second generation farm retailer at Essington Farm, his parents opened the first farm shop in 1990. The business is now run by Will, his wife Penny and Will’s parents Richard and Mary. Essington Farm now consists of a farm shop, butchery and deli, restaurant and PYO. All aspects of the business are run in house with all the produce from the farm being sold on site. The farm produces free range pork and pedigree Hereford beef for the butchery and strawberries, pumpkins and other fruit and veg for the shop and PYO. A wide variety of products are made on site with the farm specialising in quality own and local food.

Andrew Burton

Andrew Burton

Andrew Burton is an award-winning retail and catering advisor, with over 30 years management and leadership experience. He has a true passion for championing and supporting independent businesses throughout the farm retail industry.

Andrew has spent over 20 years of his career working with independent rural retailers, and in his role as Associate Director with Pleydell Smithyman he focusses on farm shop site and rural business development.

Andrew specialises in business strategic development and operational advice, and through his role at Pleydell Smithyman has access to expert support regarding external and internal design, town planning and land development.

Andrew previously sat on the Garden Centre Association Board, and with his commercial background and understanding of independent businesses, he brings a wealth of knowledge to the FRA council.

Matt Whelan

Matt Whelan

Matt Whelan is the Managing Director of Fieldfare, a family business offering delicious, loose frozen food. Fieldfare began in a Farm Shop, over 45 years ago and today work with farm shops, food halls, garden centres and other independent retailers across the UK.

Matt has 23 years’ experience working in food, with a focus on driving long-term growth together with family-owned food businesses. Matt is always happy to chat with any other suppliers who’d like to learn more about the benefits of joining the Farm Retail Association.

Sandra

Sandra Woodfall

Sandra Woodfall is passionate about local produce and is part of a small organisation that runs farmers’ markets across Kent. Initially set up as a one off, My Farmers Market has been running ever since 2000.

The Dartford Farmers’ Market is ideally situated in the town centre and takes place on the 3rd Friday of every month.

Sandra initially got involved with My Farmers Market as her husband was on the lookout for his own local produce but failed to find anything in the local area. The Farmers’ Market is held in the Pedestrian area of Dartford High Street and there is a wide variety of produce available including meat, bread, plants, preserves, fudge and much more.

Matt Homfray

Matt Homfray

Matt, a vet, and his brother Tom are the managing partners of Penllyn Estate, an arable and livestock farm in South Wales that has been farmed by the Homfray family since 1846. Today the Estate is home to a diverse range of businesses and 3 years ago moved into hospitality with the opening of Forage Farm Shop & Kitchen. The farm provides beef, lamb, pork and eggs to the farm shop, butchery, restaurant and takeaway, and they also run PYO and seasonal events.

Ben Loughrey

Ben Loughrey

Ben joined Over Farm approximately 10 years ago, starting out on the deli counter cutting cheese all alongside following his dream of playing professional golf. Ben then followed in his parents footsteps and joined the family business full-time. Over Farm has since diversified further and grown all areas of the business, with Ben overseeing the retail operation as well at the farm park, events and wedding barn. Family is at the core of Over Farm, Ben works closely with his cousin, brother and a great team, offering a fantastic experience to their customers.

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