ON first glance of their website , Lake District Farmers appear as a youthful business team supplying high quality meat . Well , you would be absolutely right , however behind the name and the team lies so much more . Lake District Farmers is a business that supports and helps the development of more than fifty Cumbrian farms , fosters rare breed conservation and manages to supply some of the country ’ s finest meat into its top restaurants and hotels , yet has premium products available now to everyone at an affordable price .

This is a continually evolving business with an amazing future and a remarkable story behind it .

Lake District Farmers was founded , or should we say facilitated , by one of Cumbria ’ s most successful businessmen , Ray Armstrong . Ray was MD of PKA Pumps and Valves based in Barrow-in-Furness which he started in 1989 .

Enter the story a young teenage Dan Austin . Dan spent much of his childhood on his grandfather ’ s farm , situated on the south-west corner of the Lakeland Fells and it was here he developed an understanding of how Cumbrian fell farms work , and how livestock flourishes

when allowed to roam in their natural environment .

At the time Dan was looking for work and to further his experience and was keen to start as soon as possible . Ray interviewed him , took an immediate liking to Dan and offered him a job as stock manager for PKA . Dan worked well and very early on Ray could see that Dan had a lot more potential , and so began to develop him for the future . Then out of the blue Dan ’ s uncle , who was working for a company very similar to LDF , approached him to join . Although Dan was happy at PKA , the opportunity to work within a business in the agricultural industry was a big draw , given how much he enjoyed being involved in the family farm .

Ray was surprised and disappointed but was happy to let Dan go and grow , so to speak . Within a very short space of time , Dan realised this was where his passion lay . Then just as Dan was really getting into the business , disaster struck , and the company went bust .

Dan and his uncle , who was the accountant , knew it was a good company with a sound idea , it just needed someone to run it properly .

Dan immediately thought of Ray from his time with him and having observed his running and success of PKA .

He went to Ray and explained the situation . Ray , still having that belief in Dan , told him and Steve to go and put together a business plan and he would consider it . That was on the Friday and by Monday the plan was written and delivered .

Ray was impressed and agreed to invest in the company and between Dan and Steve they could run it with Ray mentoring and supporting in the background .

So , at the tender age of twenty-two , Dan had his own company . Dan being the headstrong one with loads of enthusiasm and ideas , with Steve there to guide him and make sure he didn ’ t go off the rails .

Ray took Dan to London to teach him a sales pitch , which Dan took to like a duck to water .

In the early days , the company already had a select number of farms on board . Ray said their approach would be to pay a fixed above market price for the year so that farmers could guarantee their earnings , plan their budgets easier and concentrate on producing quality meat , or they could go into the open market and risk trying to get a bigger price . Nearly all preferred the security of the fixed price . It was decided to concentrate on small to medium sized

farms so that quality could be focused on and maintained , which is the policy Dan and the team still keep to today . Robin and Andrew Mackay of High Hurst Farm in Broughton are a prime example of this , where they are probably LDF ’ S smallest supplier but with amazing quality as they rear rare conservation breeds of pigs such as Berkshires . Their meat is often destined for single high-class restaurants , Berkshire pork being , arguably , the finest pork in the world .

Initially supply was to restaurants and hotels in the Lake District which was a very seasonal business . Clearly , they needed another string to their bow to create yearround revenue and also up their game . So , they turned their attentions to London where not only was there was a yearround trade but also a potential customer base much closer together .

The gourmet restaurant trade was really coming to the fore , this had to be a good target . Marcus Wareing was in the limelight going for 3 Michelin stars . Imagine if LDF could get Marcus Wareing – the rest would follow – hopefully .