For the past 100 years, Briddlesford Lodge Farm has been home to the Griffin family and their Guernsey cows. The herd was established in 1923 by Charles Griffin, who walked across the downs from Grove Farm at Adgestone to take up the tenancy at Briddlesford. He took his family, all their possessions, a few pigs, two horses, and around 12 toffee and white Guernsey cows. The family has been busy over the years and the farm has gone from strength to strength, developing into the destination eatery now known across the island and beyond. It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, however. A few savvy business decisions, clever diversification, and expert advice have ensured the farm stayed profitable during the tough times. <strong>BCM</strong> became a part of this process for the first time in 2008 when they stepped in to help redevelop the redundant wintering barn into Bluebells café. Their consultants handled the planning and facilitated the project management and design work for what was to become a hub for the local community. The next step in the farm’s development was born from the need to expand the milk processing capacity to handle the volume and quality of product being produced. The Griffins had decided that the path to survival in the tough dairy market, and the best way to preserve their beloved Guernsey herd, lay in marketing their own milk, butter, and dairy products, as opposed to relying on mass market sales that usually made more loss than profit. The idea was to showcase milk and dairy products from the Briddlesford herd as well as Isle of Wight produce in general. The development of a ‘state of the art’ milk processing dairy began. Once again, <strong>BCM</strong> took this concept through planning and project management. Cash flow was tight, and help from the bank was limited, but a combination of private investment, grant funding, and short-term finance enabled the eventual completion of the development in 2017. The new dairy enabled the Griffins to separate their milk into delicious Guernsey cream, which was churned to make butter, and the skim was blended with whole milk to make semi-skimmed. Five different cheeses were also made in the new dairy. Careful branding and marketing, and using the platform of the much-loved shop and café, enabled the family to quickly find the buyers, some large and many small, that they needed to sell all their milk direct to the consumer. It was an overnight success and the Griffin family, along with their herd of Guernseys, has never looked back. So what’s next for Briddlesford’s development? The exceptional products produced at the farm, combined with the expert professional advice and consultancy resources offered by <strong>BCM</strong>, have helped the Griffins gain class Q planning permission to convert the old pig sties into a new farmhouse. This will be completed in <strong>2024</strong> and is a charismatic and sensitive conversion that will be another credit to the property. <strong>BCM</strong> has also worked alongside Briddlesford to support and advise on the potential for solar power generation. The farm has installed two barn rooftop 50kw systems which generate a significant proportion of the power for the shop, café, and the farm. During the summer months, the lunchtime rush in the café will be entirely powered by electricity from solar generation, as will the shop fridges. Further than that, the Griffins are now working with <strong>BCM</strong> and Ridge Clean Energy to develop a field-scale renewable energy solar project. This has the potential to turn some of the least productive land on the property into a highly efficient solar farm, which will provide clean and green energy to over 500 homes on the Isle of Wight. The land will become a haven for wildlife and biodiversity. It will deliver huge benefits for the environment, for the climate, for the island, and for Briddlesford. This latest project is due to connect to the grid in <strong>2024</strong> and, once again, will be a credit to <strong>BCM</strong>, to Briddlesford, and to the Isle of Wight. 20 Isle of Wight Office Cheeks Farm, Merstone PO30 3DE Call: 01983 828 805
www.bcm.co.uk email: sales@bcm.co.uk <strong>BCM</strong> <strong>JOURNAL</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 21
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