Let's Get Down To Business: Kate Waddington

KATE Waddington is a farmer in Fawley, where she has lived all her life.

Describe your business

I’m a sheep farmer and I breed a few horses, mainly Connemara ponies. I only have a small farm, so I’ve had to diversify and I now host events and weddings and have a horse transport business.

How many people does it employ?

I am a sole trader but I occasionally hire contractors such as sheep shearers, hedge cutters and fencers.

What did you do before you started this business?

I went to the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester for three years, hoping to go on to run one of the family farms but the farms were sold. But I retained this one and gained planning permission for a house and buildings and I’ve stayed put.

When did you start your business?

July 1985.

What was your objective?

To provide a base and somewhere to live. It was hard as I lived in a dilapidated mobile home for three years.

Who or what influenced you?

Having been brought up on a farm and having a strong affiliation for livestock, I naturally went into farming. My father was a tough, strong man who had a civil engineering firm and the farms. My stepfather was a farmer who had built up a big farming business — another strong character who took no prisoners.

What would you do differently if you could?

I can’t imagine not being on the farm. It’s not just a job, it’s a way of life that you throw whole heart into.

How is your business doing?

The farm is a struggle and always has been. It is only by diversifying that it manages to wipe its face.

How do you market your business?

The farming side of things through the sale of sheep, the weddings and events through an online marketing company. The horse transport side of things is mainly racehorses so it’s word-of-mouth.

What’s the best thing about running your own business?

Being the boss. Forty years in this game and you get very stuck in your own ways so I couldn’t work for anyone else.

What’s the most challenging aspect?

The physical side is becoming more of an issue for me, constantly lifting feed and other things around the farm. Getting knocked about by animals is a hazard of the job. Bad weather and constant rain during winter when you’re wading about in mud is hard.

Where is your business headed?

Who knows? With the drastic state of the country under this Government and the threat to farming, the future of the countryside and the intense pressure put on the countryside by urban pressure groups, it’s hard to know what will happen.

Do you have a five-year plan?

Not really. I suppose, in the words of Winston Churchill, it’s to KBO (Keep Buggering On).

What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned?

Hard work and tenacity. To ignore people who try to prevent you doing things when everything is above board, such as people complaining about me holding events here.

What would you advise someone starting a business?

It’s not an easy ride.

What three qualities are most important to success?

Determination, self-motivation and the ability to deflect aggravation and criticism from people who do not understand your business.

What’s the secret of your success?

Not sure, really. Bloody mindedness and never missing a trick.

What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made?

Not patting myself on the back often enough and letting doubts about my ability limit me.

How do you ensure a work-life balance?

I have a week’s holiday at the same time each year because it fits in with the farming cycle and animals. I go to Ireland to buy Connemara Falls each year — that’s definitely a busman’s holiday.

What are you most looking forward to in 2025?

Hoping that the foals are born alive and the sheep do well at market and watching my granddaughter grow.

How organised are you?

Very — I have to be. However, I loathe paperwork and I’m very very non-techie.

How do you dress for work each day?

Wellies and a waterproof coat.

What can’t you do/be without every day?

My dogs are an endless joy. A glass of wine or three at the end of the day.

Lunch at your desk or going out?

Neither. It could be a quick lunch at home if I’m on the farm, something to eat in the horsebox or getting fed at the races when I’m transporting racehorses.

What do you read?

The Field, Country Life and the Daily Paper.

How are you planning for retirement?

I don’t think farmers retire. I can’t see how I can or that I’d want to.

Interview by Will Hamilton, intermediary
and global marketing consultant, Hamilton Associates