In 2012 the DR Company Set up the Young Business Growth Project to Help Young Entrepreneurs s1

Case Study: Supporting Business Development and Diversification

At the DR Company we understand rural Before and farming businesses, having worked with hundreds of businesses to turn their ideas into reality successfully. Woodhayes is one of those businesses …

Woodhayes Farm, near Honiton is owned by the Page-Turner family. Having farmed both dairy and livestock they decided to diversify and converted a Grade 2 listed farm building into office space. Following a healthy demand for their offices the family wanted to expand this part of the business. This would help them to address the financial challenges facing many farming businesses and to After create a sustainable succession plan for the future Building on their success the family have gone onto of the farm. That was when The DR Company diversify further by providing quality Bed and started working with Greg Page-Turner. Breakfast accommodation in the farmhouse, the conversion of a 1930’s Dutch barn into Woodhayes We helped Greg to apply for RDPE funding to Art Gallery including meeting room facilities and the convert another barn into offices. One of our provision of self catering accommodation in Orchard business advisors worked closely with Greg to Barn. develop a strong application including the development of a robust business plan, detailed The success of their project was recognised last year cash flow projections and compliance with when Devon County Show awarded them Best national and regional policy. A strong business Diversification project in 2014. case was essential and this project would guarantee additional income for Woodhayes as “If it hadn’t been for the help of Sophia well as creating 3 new jobs. May from the DR Company in guiding me in The application was approved for a non-repayable the lengthy form filling process I am sure my grant of just over £35,000 which equated to 40% application would have been dismissed. of their total project of £88,000. They completed Sophia understood what the assessors are the building work and the offices were ready looking for and helped me include aspects of within 10 months. our project in the application which we would have otherwise have left out.”

For more details about Woodhayes please look at their web site: www.woodhayes.co.uk

The DR Company @theDRcompany The DR Company www.drcompany.co.uk 01837 658643 [email protected]