Estate Matters S2 Ep4: Joe and Keeley Evans | Stewarding a modern landed estate - generational ownership, diversification & growth

CLA Vice President Joe Evans, with his wife Keeley, could have created a wonderful life away from the Evans’ family estate; until a visit changed their course.

In the latest episode of Estate Matters, they sit down with podcast host Anna Byles to share how they’ve navigated estate legacy.

Since coming home to the Whitbourne Estate in Herefordshire in 2011, Joe and Keeley Evans have added immeasurable value to its 1,500 acres.

But not without having to overcome some tough challenges – including navigating planning permission, weathering the Covid-19 pandemic, overcoming staffing challenges, and maintaining good community relations.

But through their own passion and experiences, and the support of an encouraging family dynamic and second-to-none team, the couple have built a thriving hospitality business while strengthening the Estate’s legacy.

A call home

Farming and forestry were at the heart of Estate life during Joe’s childhood, with his father Edward William (Bill) Evans and mother, Julia, raising him on the home farm – before encouraging him to fledge and spend some time elsewhere.

Away at university, Joe, who was studying mathematics, met Keeley, who was studying French and Russian in European Studies. Thereafter, the couple embarked on a life living and working abroad.  “We spent a decade living in some amazing places around the world, and it was all looking really good for a promising career,” Joe says. “And that was the moment I thought I’m not sure I want a serious career in corporate banking.”

Visiting Palawan, an idyllic archipelagic province of the Philippines, they were joined by Joe’s parents. Within the space of a beach walk the family had devised plans for Joe to take up the Estate reins, which scratched an undeniable itch.

Succeeding his father meant Joe became responsible for running the Estate on behalf of six other family members within the structure of ownership.

“There is a strong sense within the whole family of the responsibility of the homes that we provide to local people - many of our tenants are multi-generation tenants here,” says Joe. “As well as responsibility to the staff, the people who choose to invest in having a wedding at Crumplebury.

“So I think that sense of making sure we're aware that our decisions will have an impact on lots of different types of people is still a thread that is very well felt around the family.”

Food for thought

Heritage, responsible stewardship, and traditional business had shaped the Estate’s direction for many years.  And while Joe was keen to carry forward and enhance these assets, he felt there was an opportunity for a different approach to the progression of estate business.

“What I inherited from my father is an extraordinary privilege of no debt, everything to play for,” he says. “But my sense was that we couldn’t do another generation like that with the way the industry was going. So something had to happen, and we chose hospitality.”

Drawing on their passion for food experiences, Joe and Keeley explain that they could see potential for a hospitality business.

Testing the water, they launched a small monthly farm-to-table fine dining experience, Green Cow, which quickly grew in frequency and demand. Its popularity soon took it to the maximum allowance for pop-up events, and this gave them the confidence to take it to the next level.

 After refurbishing an old piggery, they reopened with a set tasting menu on Friday and Saturday evenings. Green Cow evolved into a fully-fledged restaurant – winning multiple accolades, including Best Restaurant in Herefordshire - and soon the couple found themselves hosting larger events, as well as raising their own growing family.

 “We are alarmingly can-do,” explains Keeley “If someone asked if we could host a wedding for 150 guests we’d say yes, and so it really grew from a love of food into quite a big thing.”

Crumplebury

Joe and Keeley say that it was the rise in large event demand that led them to pressing ahead with the pitching and development of their visually stunning £3.5 million versatile event complex, Crumplebury.

With on-site accommodation complementing the venue, and a staffing of 52 people at its peak, the pair received robust support from the family, and are proud of what the venue has achieved in its infancy

“What we proposed the family was for the first time in a long time, if not ever, actually borrowing a serious amount of money and going for it,” explains Joe. “But on the back of three years of successful green cow trading, they encouraged us to crack on.

“So amazing support. I think they have been a bit bewildered by parts of it because it is a significant step change.”

 However, Joe does not shy away from saying that while they were good at creating a final product, they didn’t give enough bandwidth to running it.

“Even before the challenges that Covid brought, suddenly going from a small room to a fully-fledged hotel, multiple event spaces, bedrooms, housekeepers, I think that probably caught us a bit by surprise - just how huge that jump was.”

It was the reality of the self-managed business model that led them to look at simplifying what they were doing and explore management options. Today Crumplebury is leased and managed by leading UK wedding and events company, Artemis

 “What’s exciting is that we are getting to see something that we built, grew, and formed really fly because this national company can bring perspective,” says Keeley.

Joe is keen to find more ways to link the wider Estate with the venue, noting that it is very well placed to nurture a connection between people and the Estate’s food, forestry, and educational activities.

Estate activities

Farming and forestry still form the landscape’s backbone with beef cattle and sheep extensively grazing its organic permanent pastures. The farming operations are the activities of two farm tenancies and the Estate’s own enterprise, the latter in partnership with tenants Tim and Lara Roberts.

“Of the partnership Tim does all the work and rightly so should take the credit,” Joe notes. “However, I’ve retained management control and take a keen interest in cropping choices, and the management of hedgerows and waterways.”

Some 400 acres of diverse woodland are spread over the Estate, providing environmental, scenic and revenue benefits. Woodland is carefully managed by Head Forester Olly Evans (no relation to the family) and Joe’s father Edward. Timber and firewood are harvested from high-quality sessile, with coppicing, acorn harvesting, and replanting undertaken to ensure healthy future tree stocks.

Adding massive educational and career opportunities is Longlands, a care farm operation ran by Joe’s mother since 2008. It employs six people and provides vocational training and support to 40 young people, who have been disengaged or failed by mainstream education systems in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

“All the people we have here are far better at those jobs than I am,” adds Joe. “I feel it is my role to create the conditions for them to be able to crack on and do that.”