Cultivate: A Rural Business Conference

It was no wonder the creators of the Cultivate Rural Business Conference chose Heaton House Farm to hold the first event; with an incredible barn that can easily fit 300 delegates, it was the perfect Cheshire Venue!

What is ‘Cultivate’?

Cultivate is a business conference that has a heavy focus on supporting the rural community in developing their own rural business, it’s a mission to inspire and grow each and every delegate.

Everyone involved is vital to creating this one-of-a-kind event which delivers specialist expertise, insight and a focused support to achieve sustained growth in all progressing businesses.

Who Organised The Event?

The Cultivate Team was led by Andy Venables. Andy is the founder of Marketing Consultants, Hillsgreen, which he created using the knowledge from growing up on his family’s dairy farm. He knows first-hand just how important it is in rural business to keep up with the forever changing sector, he is also very passionate about this sector in general and so created Hillsgreen, a marketing and business development agency, solely to help other rural businesses grow. In more recent years, you may also find him with another of his business creations, Mission 4 Milk, created to help raise awareness for dairy farmers across the UK.

Heaton House Farm have worked alongside Hillsgreen for many years now, and were absolutely thrilled to be hosting the event, and we were thrilled to be catering for it!

Who Were The Special Guests

The event welcomed four inspirational guest speakers, each with their own business stories to tell: Malcolm Smith spoke about how true leadership is about developing a business environment that can create your wealth, Brad Waldron joined us to talk about the 7 habits for highly effective leaders; so after watching these two speakers, our delegates will go away ready to lead their teams!

We absolutely loved reliving the motivational story of Ross McMahon, a dairy farmer who bought Kendal Nutricare from Heinz for just £1 and turned it into a multi-million-pound company.

We also found Jane Lane’s story very interesting, all about how her family diversified into the exceptional Gloucester and Tebay services which we’re sure many of you will have visited.

And Now Over To Us…

THE FOOD! We absolutely loved putting together the menu and then the food for this event! Andy and the team wanted to cater for their rural audience with a traditional British Menu

The day began with classic British Bacon & Sausage Baps, Egg, Cheshire Cheese and Pea Muffins, Staffordshire Oatcakes (bringing a local element into our menu) and Burcha Pots.

During a morning break, we’d served up pastries, homemade cookies (which were delicious!) and bowls of fruit, very refreshing for a busy day of being inspired!

And now on to the main event, LUNCH!

We’re not sure how the delegates decided between these options:

• Roasted Breast of Chicken – Smoked Bacon, Crème Fraîche, Apple and Thyme Jus, Parmentier Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables

• Staffordshire Beef Lobby – Slowly braised beef and vegetables in a rich gravy with homemade crusty bread and traditional suet dumplings

• Vegetable and Lentil Shepherd’s Pie – Topped with sweet potato and chive mash

• (And what kind of British Menu would it be without…) Fish & Chips – Plaice goujons with hand-cut chips, mushy peas, tartare sauce and lemon

All finished with a delicious selection of desserts before returning for a fun-filled afternoon.

To watch the speakers back, and to keep an eye on future events, click here.