Michael Spiers Jewellers Host Champagne Reception To Preview New Tudor Range

Luxury jewellery and watch retailer Michael Spiers, the official Rolex and Tudor retailer in the South-West region, welcomed guests to a private champagne reception. The sparkling event was held at their Exeter store to launch the new Tudor range of Swiss watches.  Guests enjoyed an exclusive preview of the new Tudor range as the marque re-launches in the UK and Ireland, offering distinct watch collections based on Tudor’s heritage.

Photograph by Matt Round Photography - Adam Spiers (Director of Michael Spiers / Martin Robertshaw (Tudor) / Tom Taylor (Michael Spiers) / Richard de Leyser (Managing Director of Rolex & Tudor) / Michael Cox (Director of Michael Spiers)

www.michaelspiers.co.uk

Exeter Christmas Turkey Farm Celebrates 75 Years

Father and son farming partnership Mike and Tim Leach of Glebelands Farm, Upton Pyne celebrates 75 years of rearing top-quality turkeys and geese specifically for the Christmas market with the launch of a new website called ‘TastyBird’.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MATT AUSTIN

Tim and Mike Leach of Glebelands Farm, Devon home of ‘TastyBird’

Free-range bronze turkeys and geese roam freely through the fields and are fed with natural cereals from the farm with no growth promoters or antibiotics.   White turkeys are happily housed in straw-bedded barns with space to walk around and all poultry are reared to full maturity and hung for up to 14 days to give a fuller flavour.

The third generation family were originally dairy farmers with mixed-used farming and capons.  Today Glebelands Farm on the outskirts of Exeter, has sheep and beef cattle and grow wheat, barley and oil-seed rape on the 200 acre farm; the mainstay of the business, however, is rearing high-quality poultry for the festive period.

Mike’s parents married in 1939 were originally dairy farmers when Vida Leach, Mike’s mother and Tim’s Grandmother decided to rear 50 turkey chicks to raise a bit of extra cash for Christmas.  Now in its 75th year, the entrepreneurial farming duo have grown the thriving ‘TastyBird’ business to over 4,000 turkeys and 600 geese and ducks. 

Over the last 50 years, the family business has been supplying local reputable West Country butchers, farm shops and the catering trade as well as the ever popular farm-gate sales.  Tim joined his father in the business 10 years ago and since that time the farm has increased its sales to high-quality butchers across the region from Penzance to Bristol, and via orders through the website with deliveries across England and Wales.  Moving with the times and listening to the needs of their busy customers, they now also supply half-size small turkeys, turkey crowns and prime turkey breast meat for easy carving with optional chestnut, cranberry and orange stuffing.

Mike Leach of ‘TastyBird’ said: “Tim joined me at the farm a decade ago and the turkey business has really taken off increasing from 500 to over 5,000. The poultry are all traditionally raised and fed cereals from the farm which is an important factor for the modern-day consumer which has been proven with increased awareness and sales direct from the farm and through the website.  Although we have grown the business ten-fold, we are still very much hands-on farmers at the end of the day and welcome farm-gate sales, actively encouraging members of the public to visit the farm.  This means they have the assurance of knowing first-hand that they are getting a mature, farm-fresh turkey or goose for Christmas.  After all, it is the most important date in the calendar for families to come together for a traditional festive feast and they want to know they are getting the best bird that money can buy with maximum flavour.” 

The ‘Tasty Bird’ business is affiliated with The Traditional Farmfresh Turkey Association’ (TFTA) which dictates that traditional free range bronze and barn reared white turkeys, are grown to the highest welfare standards.  The association’s ‘golden promise’ states that traditional farm fresh turkeys are naturally reared on grass or in woodland and fed on locally sourced feed. This means the farm produces Christmas turkeys of the highest quality, finish, flavour and texture and presentation by traditional methods without the use of growth promoters and by the highest welfare and environmentally friendly means available.

Once matured at 23 weeks, the turkeys on Glebelands Farm are slaughtered humanely in early December under stringent regulations set by ‘The Traditional Farmfresh Turkey Association’ (TFTA).

Tim Leach of ‘TastyBird’ said: “We are welfare standard accredited with TFTA, and are part of the farm assurance scheme to ensure high standards of animal welfare. The ministry vets us to check that slaughter is done properly and we are regularly monitored.  It gives complete peace of mind to our customers.  Our traditionally raised poultry bear no comparison to those bought at supermarkets where they can be flavourless and often pumped with water. This means once they are defrosted the weight on the packaging may be inaccurate. At Glebelands Farm our turkeys and geese are grown to full maturity and to the highest welfare standards.  They are  dry plucked and hung for at least seven days according to traditional farming methods which has been handed down to us through three generations.”

The poultry is initially plucked by machines, a substantial investment of £20,000 made by the entrepreneurial farmers, which removes 85% of the feathers.  Finally the birds are dry-waxed and the remaining quills removed by hand by the 15-strong labour force, most of whom have been part of the team working at the farm for many years. 

The turkeys are then hung in large, specially made refrigeration units for up to 14 days to enhance flavour, before being eviscerated, cleaned and boxed for delivery or collection from the farm. Tim comments:  “They are matured in temperature controlled rooms which meet stringent regulations with regular on-site inspections by DEFRA, MHS and Trading Standards.”

www.tastybird.co.uk

Independent Developer Opens New Taunton Office

Independent builder C G Fry & Son Ltd., known for its quality of build and attention to detail, announces the opening of a new satellite office at Victoria House in Victoria Street, Taunton.  

 Mike Pinney Contracting Director and Caroline Hill, Head of Sales & Marketing of C G Fry & Son outside new Taunton office

The award-winning company is internationally renowned for its prestigious Poundbury development with The Duchy of Cornwall, which has been a NHBC award-winning site for C G Fry & Son on no less than five occasions.  The privately-owned builder also picked up a total of four individual NHBC Quality awards in as many different counties in July this year.  This included the company’s Fern Green in Langport, Somerset for site manager Dave Pillinger at the ‘Pride in the Job’ 2014 awards.  The firm won further awards at the South West regionals held at Weston-super-Mare in October including regional winner for Poundbury.

A family-run company with its head office based near Dorchester, C. G. Fry & Son was established in the early 1920’s by Managing Director, Philip Fry’s grandfather.  The company today has a turnover of over £50 million and carries out projects in contracting, development and partnership housing across the South West Region.  The company delivers projects in a variety of ways including formal partnering arrangements, Design & Build or through traditional or two-stage tender process.The new Taunton base will be utilised to service minor contracting works, extensions, refurbishment and new/major projects up to a value of £4m across a large number of sectors throughout Somerset and Devon. With a specialist knowledge of historic and listed buildings, the company employ a direct labour force of skilled tradesmen including carpenters and stonemasons.  The company has its own joinery works with a range of craftsmen who design and make bespoke furniture, doors, staircases, traditional window and hand-built kitchens in a range of wood.  The team of qualified craftsmen across a number of trades is supported by a robust supply chain of quality subcontractors to deliver high standards across a number of sectors.

Two recent C G Fry & Son contracting projects in Somerset are located in the charming and picturesque village of Trull just 2.5 miles from Taunton.  These are a stand-alone two-storey classroom block for Trull Primary School and a new community centre for All Saints Trull Parochial Church Council completed at the end of September.

Mike Pinney, Contracting Director - C G Fry & Son said: “With the difficult economic climate, particularly in the construction industry, there have been many unfortunate casualties with a number of reputable building companies in Taunton sadly going into administration or leaving the town.  Part of our company business plan strategy is to grow the Contracting arm of the business and taking an office in Taunton will hopefully open up many more tendering opportunities in Somerset for us to facilitate this growth. In the longer term we are also looking for our Taunton office to help with the growth of the development and partnership housing side of the businesses. We have just completed two great projects in Taunton which we hope is just the start for us in Somerset.”

Brewin Dolphin’s MFS wins three categories at Citywire’s Investment Performance Awards

Brewin Dolphin, one of the UK’s leading Wealth Managers, with offices in Exeter and Plymouth, announces that its Managed Funds Service (MFS) has won three categories at Citywire’s celebrated Wealth Manager Investment Performance Awards 2014.  The firm has retained the Cautious portfolio and won both the Balanced category and the Overall Large Firm Award.  

Mike Gerrard, Business Development Manager at Brewin Dolphin in the South West

Brewin Dolphin was also short-listed once again for the Aggressive Portfolio award. Each model in their MFS range has a positive risk-adjusted return and this award recognises the value which MFS has provided to advisers and their clients.

Mike Gerrard, Business Development Manager at Brewin Dolphin in the South West said: ““It’s a great achievement to win three categories of the Citywire Investment Performance awards.  This award, which review performance across the investment risk spectrum and ranks entrants based on performance across all risk levels, demonstrates the value added for our advisers and their clients within our Managed Funds Service.  We appreciate the support from advisers for their service, particularly in Devon and Cornwall.  Throughout the UK almost 600 firms have signed up to use our Managed Funds Service and the exponential growth in assets under management demonstrates the strong relationships we have built with advisers.”

He adds: “Brewin Dolphin has a large and experienced Research team who take into consideration asset allocation, fund selection and portfolio construction, which ensures portfolios are consistently rebalanced to reflect our most current views. With no in-house funds, Brewin Dolphin has a whole of market, best of breed approach with no conflicts of interest and these are the keys to delivering successful investment solutions.  In the last 12 months, the support from advisers for our MFS has been fantastic. As firms continue to implement central investment propositions, we are delighted that we have been recognised with further accolade from the Citywire Investment Performance awards. These awards, backed by Asset Risk Consultants (ARC), are independent validation of our robust and repeatable process in delivering excellent risk-adjusted performance that will give confidence to advisers and their clients.” 

Brewin Dolphin also won the Best Overall Large Firm award, having been shortlisted last year.  

Local Developer Wins More NHBC Awards

Dorchester-based independent developer C G Fry & Son, is celebrating the success of two of its site managers, Steve Walker of Poundbury, Dorchester and Adrian White of Wyndham Place in Tisbury, Wiltshire,  receiving further awards at the NHBC (National House Building Council) ‘Pride in the Job’ 2014 regionals ceremony.  These prestigious awards follow on the back of four of the firm’s site managers being recognised with ‘Pride in the Job’ awards in July this year for individual C G Fry & Son developments across the South West.

Jim Lyons, Regional director for South West at NHBC/ Steve Walker, award-winning Site Manager – C G Fry & Son / Chris Rash, Commercial Director and Chief Financial Officer – NHBC

‘Pride in the Job’ is the only UK-wide competition dedicated to recognising site managers who achieve the highest standards in house-building and has been instrumental in driving up the quality of new homes for 34 years.  The judging process begins in July each year and lasts 18 months to ensure that site managers are assessed at every stage of the build.

This summer C G Fry had no less than four site managers awarded ‘Pride in the Job’ for individual sites across as many counties.  These included C G Fry & Son developments by Steve Walker at Poundbury, Dorchester Dorset; Adrian White for Wyndham Place in Tisbury, Wiltshire; David Pillinger, Fern Green in Langport, Somerset and Aubrey Harris for nine new apartments built to PassivHaus Principles with Sovereign Housing Association in Exeter, Devon.

On Friday 24 October 2014 - the eighth ‘Pride in the Job’ regional award ceremony for 2014 took place at the Winter Gardens in Weston-super-Mare to recognise the Seal of Excellence and Regional Winners in the South West. Steve Walker was announced as the South West regional winner in the medium house builder category and was delighted to also be awarded a ‘Seal of Excellence’ for the South West Quadrant, the latest phase of the prestigious Poundbury development C G Fry & Son has been developing with the Duchy of Cornwall since 1993.  The next development phase is the North East Quadrant; a mixed use development includes both residential and commercial with 1200 units remaining to be built.

As regional winner for the medium builder category, Steve will go through to the final Supreme Awards presented at the prestigious gala ceremony in London in January 2015.  The Supreme Award Winners are the overall national winners in each of the five builder categories, selected from the pool of Regional Winners with nine regions.  Steve comments: “It is always an honour to receive recognition through an award particularly from the NHBC.  I couldn’t have done it without the ongoing support of my dedicated team including my colleagues Mike Westcott and Joe Baggs and the hard-working sub-contractors on site.  I am very much looking forward to the Supreme Awards ceremony in January next year.” 

And it’s a double celebration for the Dorchester firm as site manager, Adrian White also won a ‘Seal of Excellence’ at the regional award ceremony for the desirable C G Fry & Son Wyndham Place development in Tisbury, Wiltshire. Kevin Murch ─ Construction Director C G Fry & Son said: “The NHBC ‘Pride in the Job’ award is the highest industry accolade a site manager can receive and we are immensely proud of the achievements of all of our 2014 award-winning site managers at C G Fry developments across four different counties. We are absolutely delighted for Steve and Adrian receiving their individual prestigious awards which are well deserved.  It is also wonderful to be publicly recognised as a company, as it’s the fifth year we’ve won the South West category in the medium builder category.  As a family-owned company, we consistently strive to build the highest quality new homes across the South West with meticulous attention to detail.  This ethos is embraced by each of our individual site managers and their hard-working teams. It is always gratifying to be publicly recognised by a well-respected national body such as the NHBC and the next stage is the exciting national awards being held in London in the New Year.”

www.cgfry.co.uk