Crisis at Jimmys Farm

[Dan Salter]

Indeed Cales is taken..... *cries into keyboard.

[sasha.p]

Well i was looking on the net after jimmys farm trying to find out when it would be on again as i caught two sundays worth of it and found this thread so i had to join the forum just to give my opinion ,first of all good on you Jimmy and michaela cant fault you for taking on such a challenge our generation seem to be lacking somthing and i personally think its a real good thing to want to live in the enviroment you have chosen farming what a great way to live!!if you have the opportunity to do then do it its not easy and not cheap to get started but if you want it bad enough then you will do your best,jimmy obviousley has a lot of people who they can rely on otherwise he would be nuts to take so many chances but you have to give it to him and michaela ,he sure has some great ideas and in theory providing he does them right they would work i love the way they just keep coming.

i do not blame him for involving the bbc and i have really enjoyed what i have watched so far i know how dolly feels lol my light sussex cockeral is the same but i prefer to give chase to put him back in orderjimmy and michaela if you ever get time to read any of this i think there should be a full time show you know to educate people our age on agricultural aspects of life ,i grew up in the countryside and moved to the city but then went from factory and security work and various other jobs to going to agricultural college to do a nd in animal care and since, well its turned my life around i now own 11 acres of ground and am looking at starting my own little poultry/pig enterprise but im not as daring as jimmy as what i have i can not lose and i will be watching the rest and any other series on jimmys farm as it is great to have somthing to refer to thats not from an ancient farming book or vhs tape lol

me and my husband have enjoyed watching your farm and have added the website to our favourites maybe when our children are older we will venture down your way if we could get somebody to look after our lot as we are in south wales.The simplest of tasks turn into hours worth of work when you have young children so i guess it will be a few years yet before we make a start on anything but one day it would be nice to seek some advise from somebody who will be among the country's most well known pig farmers

keep up the good work and good luck

[Dan Salter]

Hi Sasha....thanks for your message and good luck with your own venture.
I just wanted to point a few things out to you...this website is not connected with jimmys farm or the bbc in any way.
Its a forum for WILD ABOUT BRITAIN which is for people with an interest in all this british, wildlife, countryside and the environment,
Im a huge fan of Jimmy and Cales and started a "thread" on them in our forum ( which you have come accross).

There IS however a Jimmys Farm website and on the contacts section you CAN leave messages for jimmy and the people at the farm...so do a search on jimmys farm and you should end up on the website of the essex pig company.

Also...if you read this thread you will see not everyone is as big a fan of jimmy as myself...and to some of those i just wanted to clear a couple of things up..I argued this point before and now having just recently read an article from his girl Cales in a sunday magazine it appears that they recieved no moneys for the jimmys farm series as they were considered " contributors" and therefore the subject and NOT "presenters". Michaela ( cales) was originally working as a runner for a tv production company and met jimmy when introduced by his school pal Jamie Oliver...in a nice romantic twist..Jimmy was the guy who introduced Jamie olivers now wife Jools to Jamie as her and jimmy went to 6th form college together so Jamie returned the favour by introducing him to Cales.
they met while filming a part of a show regarding jamie olivers catering students filming a butchery course that jimmy was lending a hand on
At the start of series 1 of jimmys farm we see cales quit her job in london ( the production company career) and move in with jimmy and help on the farm...which i think is very lovely.

Sadly...what we have just watched on the bbc , series 3 of jimmy's farm is to be the last ever and interestingly jimmy has only JUST signed up for some paid tv contracts to help on certain shows like horizon...so only NOW after 4 years or so of being strapped is the tv work going to start paying off..so they are finishing the jimmys farm tv project so he can concentrate on the farm and his other tv projects.

and lastly...please stick around, although this isnt a jimmy connected site i think you will find it very interesting and maybe helpful here

Dan

[Jez]

Originally Posted by Dan Salter

Hi Sasha....thanks for your message and good luck with your own venture.
I just wanted to point a few things out to you...this website is not connected with jimmys farm or the bbc in any way.
Its a forum for WILD ABOUT BRITAIN which is for people with an interest in all this british, wildlife, countryside and the environment,
Im a huge fan of Jimmy and Cales and started a "thread" on them in our forum ( which you have come accross).

There IS however a Jimmys Farm website and on the contacts section you CAN leave messages for jimmy and the people at the farm...so do a search on jimmys farm and you should end up on the website of the essex pig company.

Also...if you read this thread you will see not everyone is as big a fan of jimmy as myself...and to some of those i just wanted to clear a couple of things up..I argued this point before and now having just recently read an article from his girl Cales in a sunday magazine it appears that they recieved no moneys for the jimmys farm series as they were considered " contributors" and therefore the subject and NOT "presenters". Michaela ( cales) was originally working as a runner for a tv production company and met jimmy when introduced by his school pal Jamie Oliver...in a nice romantic twist..Jimmy was the guy who introduced Jamie olivers now wife Jools to Jamie as her and jimmy went to 6th form college together so Jamie returned the favour by introducing him to Cales.
they met while filming a part of a show regarding jamie olivers catering students filming a butchery course that jimmy was lending a hand on
At the start of series 1 of jimmys farm we see cales quit her job in london ( the production company career) and move in with jimmy and help on the farm...which i think is very lovely.

Sadly...what we have just watched on the bbc , series 3 of jimmy's farm is to be the last ever and interestingly jimmy has only JUST signed up for some paid tv contracts to help on certain shows like horizon...so only NOW after 4 years or so of being strapped is the tv work going to start paying off..so they are finishing the jimmys farm tv project so he can concentrate on the farm and his other tv projects.

and lastly...please stick around, although this isnt a jimmy connected site i think you will find it very interesting and maybe helpful here

Dan

Adolf Hitler is the original sorry to say. Theres plenty of foreign Flora, if you don't get the michael Pailin job it might be Dan's Trials and tribulations on conquering JKW! I'd still pay to watch That!

[sasha.p]

Thanks dan i did realize it was a british wildlife forum not jimmy related but just had to add my post .i noticed there were comments about jimmys business sense etc and everyone is entitled to their own opinion but at the end of the day he had all the right people in place accountants and a proffesional team to advise him so im sure things will turn out good for him i know a lot of small farming businesses go under and especially when there are things around like foot and mouth and blue tounge i really feel for the people affected by all this.

But on the other hand im pretty sure this forum will be of help to me as i love wildlife tooso im very pleased to join you all and will try and pop in when i get five spare minutes from my daily tasks

[Gill Catton]

I do still love the show and think the couple are great with fantastic hearts and golden intentions - and I guess its their advisors who are letting them down, but how do you schedulle and start booking things for a barn re-furb when you don't yet have the funds to do it and then forget to cancel booked things when you fail to get the money?

How does it take 3 years to work out that you need to make sure you're selling your produce for more than it costs to produce it? I'm the biggest scatter brain but even I would realise this bit!

Why schedule a meeting and expensive dinner in a hotel to talk about buying out your partner in business when you know you don't have the money to buy him out?

[Dan Salter]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

I do still love the show and think the couple are great with fantastic hearts and golden intentions - and I guess its their advisors who are letting them down, but how do you schedulle and start booking things for a barn re-furb when you don't yet have the funds to do it and then forget to cancel booked things when you fail to get the money?

How does it take 3 years to work out that you need to make sure you're selling your produce for more than it costs to produce it? I'm the biggest scatter brain but even I would realise this bit!

Why schedule a meeting and expensive dinner in a hotel to talk about buying out your partner in business when you know you don't have the money to buy him out?

Its called "learning by your mistakes" Gill...Neither of them were or proclaimed to be business men/women. They are just keen and adventurous....sure they have made drastic or naieve mistakes, sadly someone being paid 45 grand a year to manage projects for you then failing miserably is something you can predict. And yes...the pricing thing again is daft...but you would think that someone ( not Jimmy or cales) would have clocked it...the butcher was middle aged and must have run his own shops or worked in business...sadly...and i have been a manager of 15 staff before...people just dont care....they get their money, they go home....they dont care if they know your seeling your goods underpriced...

Yep...business meeting in expensive coffee shop when your skint....is daft...but also in business..you NEVER let on your in the poo poo...even if you are on the brink of going pop...its just how it is.....because the minute there is a sniff you are in trouble suppliers will stop everything...demands will flood in....baliffs etc and if the sleeping partner knew the real situation he would have called in his shares immediately and that would have been the end of it. You just bluff bluff bluff until the very last minute.....because just sometimes a miracle can happen and no ever ever knew the wiser. ....

But i STILL love them....and they are STILL doing it....which is fab.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Dan Salter

Its called "learning by your mistakes" Gill...Neither of them were or proclaimed to be business men/women. They are just keen and adventurous....sure they have made drastic or naieve mistakes, sadly someone being paid 45 grand a year to manage projects for you then failing miserably is something you can predict. And yes...the pricing thing again is daft...but you would think that someone ( not Jimmy or cales) would have clocked it...the butcher was middle aged and must have run his own shops or worked in business...sadly...and i have been a manager of 15 staff before...people just dont care....they get their money, they go home....they dont care if they know your seeling your goods underpriced...

Yep...business meeting in expensive coffee shop when your skint....is daft...but also in business..you NEVER let on your in the poo poo...even if you are on the brink of going pop...its just how it is.....because the minute there is a sniff you are in trouble suppliers will stop everything...demands will flood in....baliffs etc and if the sleeping partner knew the real situation he would have called in his shares immediately and that would have been the end of it. You just bluff bluff bluff until the very last minute.....because just sometimes a miracle can happen and no ever ever knew the wiser. ....

But i STILL love them....and they are STILL doing it....which is fab.

I'm no business woman at all! I'd be rubbish at it but I would still make sure the basics were working from the outset and that it was kept on top of esp being as its just one farm. The butcher's not going to know how much you spend on feed or vets bill or staff. Yes indeedy a manager should be in control of this too perhaps but as an owner would you not check the books at some point - bearing in mind its your livelyhood??

[Dan Salter]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

I'm no business woman at all! I'd be rubbish at it but I would still make sure the basics were working from the outset and that it was kept on top of esp being as its just one farm. The butcher's not going to know how much you spend on feed or vets bill or staff. Yes indeedy a manager should be in control of this too perhaps but as an owner would you not check the books at some point - bearing in mind its your livelyhood??

Like i said....they KNOW that now....they are youngish in terms of owning running a business for the first time...you can garauntee turkey gate or underpriced products wont happen again....its normal for mistakes to be made and things overlooked...its all part of learning and i just wish people would allow them that. Like another poster said its a shame as they seem to have put in place a great team and infrastructure so maybe they thought they had it all under control....but if THOSE people are "learning too" then that maybe the problem.

Personally i would NEVER have taken on a guy/friend to manage my business for 45 grand a year....whos Catering business had just gone under?.....ermmmmm....warning bells?

[clover green]

I'm gutted as I somehow missed the last episode of Jimmy's Farm (missed the repeat too), so I dont know what happened on the last show.
But, with regard to previous comments, I also wondered why on earth he took on the "failed" caterer at a whooping £45000, a year. Then ,when the xmas trouble happened, I did wonder why this "manager" wasn't sorting out all the cock-ups, or better still preventing them from occuring in the first place? The missing hampers, etc, and no proper ordering system meant customer orders were not being sent out correctly.
I felt a bit sorry for the butcher, who was obviously trying to do a good job, but was left to take the flak for other people's mistakes. I think in the end the stress got to him, so hence his absence on the shop's busiest day. Then, what about all that forgotten frozen meat, which was discovered later?? Worst still, was the extension/barn refurbishment, fiasco! Why order all that stuff, when you havent even got the finance inplace? It was a gross waste of money. All this does make you question the whole concept of the farm and it's viability?
I really do like the show & of course Jimmy & cales too, they're great people, but they dont have a lot of business sense. I do wish them luck in their venture and hope they make a success of it, but without the tv show, they probably would not survive?

[Dan Salter]

Originally Posted by clover green

I'm gutted as I somehow missed the last episode of Jimmy's Farm (missed the repeat too), so I dont know what happened on the last show.
But, with regard to various comments, I also wondered why on earth he took on the "failed" caterer at a whooping £45000, a year. But when the xmas trouble happened I did wonder why this "manager" wasn't sorting out all the cock-ups, or better still preventing them from occuring in the first place? The missing hampers, etc, and no proper ordering system meant customer orders were not being sent out correctly.
I felt a bit sorry for the butcher, who was obviously trying to do a good job, but was left to take the flak for other people's mistakes. I think in the end the stress got to him, so hence his absence on the shop's busiest day. Then, what about all that forgotten frozen meat, which was discovered later?? Worst still, was the extension/barn refurbishment, fiasco! Why order all that stuff, when you havent even got the finance inplace? It's was a gross waste of money. It does make you question the whole concept of the farm and it's viability?
I really do like the show & of course Jimmy & cales, their great people, but they dont have a lot of business sense. I do wish them luck in their venture and hope they make a success of it, but without the tv show, they would not survive>

And you clearly havent read anything i have said. They made NO MONEY from the shows...read my post above.
You have to take gambles in business...They had to gamble that the bank would give them the money for the extension, and just get on with it as there was major competition being built a few miles up the road so they had to act...ok so it backfired but thats business. They have now got a coffee shop/restaraunt in a semi permanent marquee building on the forecourt and the barn is still derelict. Much more sensible. The cock up for not cancelling a lorry full of cement i cant stick up for...but then again i have been in business and at busy times and tressful times things DO get overlooked. Im sorry but running any kind of business has its ups and downs...im sure if the bbc chose to film anything...a new bakers shop....a wildlife website starting out....a naked dog grooming business in hungary...or designer fish flavoured lampshades...you would see over the course of 4 years things going wrong and mistakes being made but what about all the things Jimmy has come up with that have been a total success? the is a huge list.....I bet richard branson and Bill gates made mistakes along the way of becoming hugely successful....And yes ok some will argue that they may not have made MONEY directly from the tv shows ( which is true) but they have recieved more custom due to the free advertising....those same people who say that are the same people that claim jimmy has NO BUSINESS SENSE?....Seems like he has plenty....getting the tv involved was a very smart move...i rest my case.

[clover green]

Originally Posted by Dan Salter

And you clearly havent read anything i have said. They made NO MONEY from the shows...read my post above.
You have to take gambles in business...They had to gamble that the bank would give them the money for the extension, and just get on with it as there was major competition being built a few miles up the road so they had to act...ok so it backfired but thats business. They have now got a coffee shop/restaraunt in a semi permanent marquee building on the forecourt and the barn is still derelict. Much more sensible. The cock up for not cancelling a lorry full of cement i cant stick up for...but then again i have been in business and at busy times and tressful times things DO get overlooked. Im sorry but running any kind of business has its ups and downs...im sure if the bbc chose to film anything...a new bakers shop....a wildlife website starting out....a naked dog grooming business in hungary...or designer fish flavoured lampshades...you would see over the course of 4 years things going wrong and mistakes being made but what about all the things Jimmy has come up with that have been a total success? the is a huge list.....I bet richard branson and Bill gates made mistakes along the way of becoming hugely successful....And yes ok some will argue that they may not have made MONEY directly from the tv shows ( which is true) but they have recieved more custom due to the free advertising....those same people who say that are the same people that claim jimmy has NO BUSINESS SENSE?....Seems like he has plenty....getting the tv involved was a very smart move...i rest my case.

Of course I HAVE READ what you said, My point was without the TV show, ( i.e the massive publicity ) they would NOT get thousands of people visiting the farm and spending their money. Millions watch it and thousands go there because it was on TV.

[Dan Salter]

Originally Posted by clover green

Of course I HAVE READ what you said, My point was without the TV show, ( i.e the massive publicity ) they would NOT get thousands of people visiting the farm and spending their money. Millions watch it and thousands go there because it was on TV.

Yes i just stated that above confirming Jimmy does indeed have GREAT business sense.