BY ALLISON LEE
I am constantly in awe of the number of farmers who have diversified to protect their incomes. I have spoken to numerous farmers who, for various reasons, have had to tap into an alternative income to keep their farms afloat. They do this without complaint or blame, quite simply because they have no choice.
Many of today’s young farmers have been brought up on farms all their lives and come from generations of farmers, yet they know that without diversifying, they will struggle and perhaps even lose farms that have been in their families for decades.
Philippa is one such person. A farmer’s daughter, married to a farmer, and the mother of four energetic sons, she knows all too well how the farming industry has changed over the years. Philippa lives on a farm on the Staffordshire–Shropshire border, where her family has resided since 1942, when her grandfather, Jack, took on the farm tenancy. Philippa, along with her own family, her sisters and their families, and her parents, all live on the farm.
Philippa told me how her grandfather took on the farm as a tenant in 1943 and was able to purchase it in 1984. He grew potatoes and milked cows. Her grandparents went on to have three sons, all of whom wanted to farm, so her grandfather managed to find another two farms to rent. That way all three brothers, including Philippa’s father, could work in partnership across the farms. Philippa’s father managed the field work across the three farms and helped feed the dairy cows at his eldest brother’s farm.
Philippa enjoyed an idyllic childhood on the farm—driving tractors, helping fence the fields, feeding calves, lambing sheep, and doing some of the less glamorous jobs, such as sheeting up silage pits with wheels. Philippa’s parents were very enterprising and began milling sheep feed and making cheese and yoghurt from their flock. An ice cream machine followed, and the family went on to set up a small farm shop selling homemade produce. In time, this developed into a tea room where Philippa and her elder sister regularly worked, serving tea, cakes, and ice cream sundaes. Sadly, support for the farm shop and tea room didn’t take off, and the enterprise was wound up in 1993.
Farming, Philippa says, was under increased pressure with mad cow disease, foot and mouth, and unstable prices. It became inevitable that her father would have to look elsewhere for an income to run alongside the farm. That is when he found Smiths Sectional Buildings, a timber business for sale, then based in Nottingham. Philippa’s father bought the business in 2004 when it was owned by Clive and June Smith. The Smiths were looking to retire and sell the business, and Philippa says it was something her father thought he “could turn his hand to,” so he began to learn how to make the buildings. At the time, Philippa and her elder sister were both away at university, but they helped whenever they could in the holidays by answering the telephone, taking orders, and putting their heads together to think of ways to grow the business. At that time, Philippa says, “Websites hadn’t taken off, and it was all very pen-and-paper based. None of the plans were computerised, and all payments were by cheque, requiring a £50 deposit to secure the order. Many of the buildings we still make are the original designs from 2004, with a few tweaks.”
There are challenges when juggling a young family and running a business, and Philippa says it can be difficult to balance everything. But she acknowledges that one of the most important selling points is that Smiths Sectional Buildings is a family business. Despite the pressure of having to work through difficult or challenging times, Philippa appreciates that—as with farming, where animals need to be fed whatever happens—the business must run smoothly at all times. She endeavors to ensure things go according to plan, whatever she is faced with.
Philippa is proud of what she and her family have achieved, and I can vouch for the buildings they produce, having purchased numerous stables and animal shelters from them over the years. “Blowing our own trumpet is not something we’ve ever been tremendously good at,” says Philippa. “We are not a cheap option, but I would hope we are value for money. We source quality sustainable materials and hand-make everything here on the farm, meaning we can change our designs to suit. There is a lot of competition out there from companies reselling imports, which are not as strong, but it is very difficult to convey this message when most consumer choices are mainly price-based.”
Philippa enjoys talking to customers and helping them with their needs—she has certainly helped me on numerous occasions, not least when a terrible storm hit our smallholding last winter and blew over several of the animal houses we had just bought. Philippa arranged for her team to visit within the week, and they re-sited and mended the damaged shelters, firmly anchoring them to the ground. Philippa tells me that she loves working alongside her parents and says the support and help all the family give each other is invaluable. There are, of course, also difficult parts of the job, such as working in tough weather when the wind is blowing sideways and they have to erect a building. But on the whole, she enjoys her work immensely. Philippa tells me that even after 20 years they still make mistakes occasionally, but, she says, “any mistakes are happily rectified and lessons are always being learned, even if it does result in a stack of odd panels in the workshop that are not quite the right size!”
Philippa admits there are many pressures in running a business nowadays—from sourcing quality, reliable staff and managing cost increases to maintaining the quality and traditional feel of the business. She is proud that the business has grown steadily while she has brought up her own family and helped run the farm, and she hopes one day, when her children are older, they may follow her into the family firm. In the meantime, her main aims are to continue supplying high-quality timber buildings around the country and to keep their valued staff secure and happy in their jobs. Philippa acknowledges that if it weren’t for their team of carpenters, they wouldn’t be where they are today. “When we moved the business from Nottingham to Market Drayton in 2005, we were in desperate need of finding hard-working, quality staff,” Philippa says. “We found a company in Poland that was sourcing staff who wanted to work in the UK, and they started to find workers for us. Our workshop manager, Slawomir, has worked for us since 2007, and his son has now started working for us too. With their help, along with Tomasz, who joined us in 2008, and Zbigniew, who started in 2010, we have continued to supply high-quality animal houses up and down the country—and hopefully will continue to do so for many years to come.”
If you would like to know more about Smiths Sectional Buildings, please visit their website:
www.smithssectionalbuildings.co.uk.
Allison Lee is a smallholder from North Yorkshire who has written for the Yorkshire Times and other publications. Her website can be accessed here.