Farmer Copley’s 'Beast' of an investment to see turnover hit the £3m mark

Following a £1.2m investment project, West Yorkshire-based Farmer Copley’s is on track to see annual turnover increase by at least 43% this year to £3m.

Supported by funding from Royal Bank of Scotland, the Pontefract-based farm shop and family attraction began work to convert an existing barn outbuilding into a new 157 seat café and restaurant, complete with private function rooms in December 2015.

Since opening in October 2016, the new venue has seen visitor numbers increase by 50% compared with 12 months ago, exceeding the 20% targeted increase.

Farmer Copley’s is now home to the ‘Moo’ café by day, and on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, it also operates as the fully licensed ‘Beast’ restaurant.

The extension also houses ‘The Stable’, a business meeting room for 14 people, as well as a private function room ‘The Baro’ with a capacity of 140 people and full conference facilities.

The opening of the venue has created 20 new jobs, increasing the current workforce to 65 people.

After the ‘Moo’ café relocated from inside Farmer Copley’s farm shop, owners Robert and Heather Copley have been able to expand their retail offering by installing more counters to showcase the farm’s meat, dairy, fruit and bakery produce.

Farmer Copley’s is a 60-acre working farm producing lamb, beef, pumpkins, strawberries, asparagus, rhubarb, raspberries, blackberries, eggs and liquorice. All products produced on the farm are sold in the farm shop along with other locally sourced produce.

Heather Copley, owner of Farmer Copley’s, said: “We are thrilled with the new venue and its popularity is proving that this was a great step for us to take. Moo is very busy every day and Beast is also proving popular, fully booked every Saturday evening and most Friday’s too already.

“By moving the café to its own premises we have also been able to expand the farm shop and create a dedicated retail space that is more relaxed and much better laid out.

“This has also proved to be a great step as we have seen sales increase in this area of the business too. Overall, revenues generated by the café, restaurant and farm shop have steadily increased - up £10k a week currently on this time last year as a result of the project.

“We have received excellent support from Royal Bank of Scotland throughout this project and it has been great to work alongside Lindsay and the team. We are looking forward to continuing our relationship with the bank in the future.”

Lindsay Crooks, senior relationship manager at Royal Bank of Scotland, added: “The new venue is fantastic and is already proving to be a successful addition to Farmer Copley’s. I am pleased that we have been able to support the project and look forward to continuing to support Rob and Heather as the business continues to develop and expand.”

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