The Farmers Mart Dec/Jan 2016 - Issue 43 | Page 54

Stepney Hill Farm

a vision of what this place could
become. It’s a fantastic location
on one of the busiest roads into
Scarborough and so I decided
to put plans together for a
butcher’s shop. I had a meeting
with my father and James and
told them what I had in mind. I
just knew we had the products
and the location. At that time I
had no vision of anything else or
what it would become today.”
Although James and John
didn’t share Ashley’s vision,
they wished him well. A deal
was struck between them
five years ago that resulted
in James taking the existing
livestock, machinery and the
contracting business. Ashley
was left with the land, halfowned, half-tenanted across the
156 acres; the farm buildings
and the new farmhouse along
with bank borrowings. He set
about bringing the borrowings
down as quickly as he could
and building on his vision.
“We have earned our way
by working hard,” he said. “We
converted the ground floor of

54 Dec/Jan 2016 www.farmers-mart.co.uk

our house into the tearooms.
That was Nicola’s idea and she
has made it a great success.
We got planning permission for
the butcher’s shop and started
buying our own livestock. I’d
had no butchery experience.
I’m a farmer and a builder so I
was relying on getting quality
people.”
THE BIG BREAK
Ashley’s big break came
when one of his soon-to-be
biggest rivals went bankrupt just
before he was due to open.
“I was able to take on all
their best staff and hand-picked
the best customers and that’s
what set us up. Initially we
started with the wholesale side
because I wasn’t geared up
for retail butchery. Today we’re
70 per cent retail and 30 per
cent wholesale and supply the
best hotels and restaurants in
Scarborough.”
Last year Ashley took on
a second butcher’s shop in
Ramshill, Scarborough. He
now employs three full-time