Episode 4 The Farm Fixer

Small farms and rural businesses are in crisis.

We've put our life savings into what we're doing.

A tough economic climate and depressed agricultural markets

are bringing the countryside to its knees.

If we get a very bad year, we just have to go bankrupt.

I'm Nick Hewer and I'm returning to my Northern Irish roots...

It's my country. What are you doing here?

I've never heard of Ballyclare.

..to help these farms and rural businesses diversify.

I'm no farming expert but I do know what it takes

for a farming business to survive in these tough economic times.

You deal with the horse,

shoot the horse yourself.

Every time I come to Northern Ireland I put on a stone.

Can I offer you a scone?

Can we call you Nick?

And every now and again, there must be a reality check.

The Chinese are very good with this sort of thing.

And that's where I come in.

My focus today is Castlewellan Agricultural Show in South Down.

Now, these agricultural shows

sit at the very heart of rural communities

and yet so often they struggle to make a profit.

And profit is just what the Castlewellan Show needs.

It first started back in the roaring '20s

but its future is now in doubt.

No profit this year, no show next year.

We have extra costs with this here show

and we need the reserves and we don't have them.

One of the reasons for the deficit - this muddy field.

For one day a year, it's the site of the agricultural show

and a daily drain on their resources.

To dig them out the members of the Castlewellan committee,

mainly male, have put their faith in three local lasses -

sheep lover, Michelle McAuley,

keeper of the purse strings, Teresa Kearney,

and salaried secretary, Jackie Fitzpatrick.

I've been involved with Castlewellan Show from I was 21.

I have a pedigree herd of Aberdeen Angus and Hampshire Down sheep.

I've grown up with the show when I was a kid and my father...

he used to show the sheep.

I'm married to Martin. We have a sheep and small cattle farm at home.

He works for Royal Mail.

Can this newly-formed sisterhood deliver a first-class result

and succeed where some of the male forbears failed?

I wonder whether an outsider can't inject some new ideas

before it's too late?

This outsider needs to confront the committee.

Let's hope the women at the top table have my back covered.

Let me just ask a few questions perhaps,

just to bring me up to speed.

You draw visitors in from what sort of area,

what sort of radius, do you think?

Anybody?

'The speedy response is deafening.'

They're coming from Belfast.

They're coming from Dublin, they're coming from Newcastle?

I'm guessing 80% from a 20 mile radius.

And what sort of attractions do you put on and market and advertise?

We like the pure agricultural aspect of it -

our cattle, our sheep.

When I mentioned Belfast there was a sort of a shudder in the room.

Belfast people are noted for being bad travellers.

Ask them to come out till Castlewellan, Newry, Ballymena...

Belfast people just don't go.

What does it cost to put this show on?

The expenditure on an annual basis would be just over 100k.

We spent a lot of money in 2011 on the field drainage.

We charge £10 entrance fee, but a big slug of that crowd coming

in is getting in for free because they're children, is that right?

So who is the core market then? Families. Simple - families.

-Farming families.

-Urban... yeah.

Are you bothered about profit?

If we get a very bad year and our show is cancelled,

we have no reserves. To cancel this show

would give us a loss of probably 60,000 on the year.

We would just have to go bankrupt.

'Bankruptcy? That's simply not an option.

'If I'm to help fix this local show for local people,'

I need to look at the income from sponsorship,

the livestock entry fees,

the trade stalls and the key and crucial factor -

the cash on the day, the money from ticket sales, the footfall.

There is a need for us

to be more aware of how we can secure more funding.

Sponsorship will only cover so much.

It's getting harder and harder, so it is.

We need it well publicised to get the people through the gates.

And here's what they've got to do, more people through the gate.

More people through the gate

means you can increase the price of the stands

and the advertising.

The combination of those two things means more profit

as long as you keep the cost the same.

For now, my sights are set on the show site itself.

'I'm hoping that chairperson Michelle

'is more talkative than at this morning's committee meeting.'

Of this 55 acres and you stretch from the road right up there...

-That's right.

-So, in years gone by then you were spending

30... £38,000 draining it.

What does it look like for this year? Looks pretty wet to me.

Probably you looking at this field thinks it's very muddy,

but if you were to go on to any of our farms, this field is excellent.

Yes. But we're not having an agricultural show on your farm.

Have you got any plans now for this sort of muddy field?

One thing I notice when I go to other shows that we don't have is we don't

have a lovely country wear section of ladies wear, gentlemen's wear.

Right, tweedy coats and smart wellington boots!

For the ladies, yeah. The ladies like something like that too.

You love this place even though the ground's wet

and it costs you money every year. Why?

It's a lovely setting, we're set in the forest park.

The trouble is you pay good money to drain this just for one day

and for that one day you pay £1,000.

-That's right.

-And then as soon as you've gone, somebody releases

a herd of cattle here to graze, so when you come back next year,

you have to sort of straighten things out again.

Who owns this, the government?

The Forestry, Department of Agriculture.

You go and get a big axe and you march up to their front door

-and you chop their arguments down.

-You think that would work?

It would work. 'Given time.'

I need to inspire these rural revolutionaries.

When I was a boy, every year I went to the Royal Bath and West show.

In those days it moved around a bit,

but now it's got its own permanent show ground.

It's the only Royal four-day show remaining in England.

It's innovative and traditional

and over the four days it rakes in two million pounds.

And I want the Three Graces - Jackie, Michelle and Teresa,

to meet Doctor Guise.

She runs this show, possibly the most successful one in England.

Jane, first of all thank you for very much for taking the trouble

to fly across here today to meet

the power behind the Castlewellan Agricultural Show.

I know your show from the old days,

but today, of course, it's grown and grown and grown.

Is it all down to marketing or have you slowly built up the numbers

and the revenue through the turnstiles?

No, every year is a new challenge.

The biggest marketing tool we have is roadside boards.

We put them in our members' fields so that people drive past them.

Sometimes we do television adverts, a lot of internet marketing.

And do you find giving your sponsors enough PR that they'll come back

and support you then the next year?

Yes. Some of the biggest sponsors are very hardnosed

and they want lots of bang for their bucks, so we have to make

absolutely sure that the profile that they get is perfect.

And your entry fees for the likes of cattle, sheep?

Do you put them up?

The value of an animal that wins a competition is elevated enormously.

A cow can walk into that competition worth between £2,000 and £5,000

and if it becomes the supreme championship with the right judge,

it can walk out being worth £50,000.

'So, it's all about the money after all.'

It's time for tea now with the fact-finding trio

and for me to reveal my plans.

In the distance you see a bright light, it's a date rocketing

towards you at incredible speed and it's called July the 13th.

Not much time.

In days gone by, you have a bash for the sponsors at the castle

which costs you.

Let's get something out of it rather than just a rather bland thank-you.

How would it be if the three of you stood up, or one of you,

and gave a marketing presentation to those sponsors

and they leave then with a package of marketing collateral

which enables them to promote your show to their customers?

It's all about numbers

and of course, it's not just about ticket money,

people coming in.

But people are bringing their livestock in, they love it.

They've spent ages combing that cow.

Put the price up.

At the moment the cattle pay £8 an entry, the sheep £5 an entry,

so if we were to move it up to £9, well, you've 350 to 400 cattle.

Or make it 10. Couple of pounds matters nothing.

They want their livestock, they want to show it off

not only to the public but to their competitors

and their neighbouring farmer too.

I know that, Michelle, you've earmarked a part of the site

where you can put sort of country clothing,

even county clothing stalls in.

What about maybe getting some well known outfitters, men and women

to sponsor a tea tent whereby we get some models,

they tog up in all the latest gear

and cruise from table to table showing off the latest thing?

That does link quite nicely with the idea, we do have sort of a prize

for the best dressed lady on the day.

It kind of develops the theme a little bit stronger if you like.

-That's fantastic.

-Thank you very much.

-'Job done. Ladies happy.'

The biggest worry will be taking this back to the committee.

Some members on the committee that won't maybe sway

with some of the suggestions that we're going back with.

I think Nick has come in to the show today

with a very fresh set of eyes

and it's interesting, sometimes you can be too close to something.

The show has got so big, you have to look at it more like a business.

While I'm back in London,

the business-like trio confront their members.

On tonight's agenda, PR and marketing.

A warm welcome then to Fidelma.

Last year we spent £1200 on radio advertising

with the local radio stations which was good, but I think this year

if we're going to spend any big money I think it must be on the website.

The current website we've had for seven years,

it's not fit for purpose at the moment. The website we get built now,

I think we wouldn't be reviewing it for 5 years.

Let's see that sisterhood in action.

OK, members, what do you think of that?

The advantage of Facebook and Twitter is they're dynamic.

Not everybody is on Facebook but anybody can access a website.

The thing about the website is that's your shop window.

-What happens in five years' time?

-The website will still be there.

Tell you what, come back to me and ask me in five years time.

Three weeks later, I dial in for an update.

-Hello.

-Hello, Nick.

-Is that or Michelle or Jackie?

-This is Michelle speaking, Nick.

-What about the fashion tent?

Our ladies' tea tent has been a lot harder work

than we thought it would be, I have to say.

Now the WI ladies are very keen to come on board.

'Have you committed to the WI?'

No. It's provisionally booked with them, because as of today,

we still don't have a definite fashion retailer, you know, booked?

Ok. What about the sponsors' evening?

I'm really pleased with how it's progressing.

We have got our bags sponsored for the evening

with the Castlewellan Show logo on it.

We've got the sponsored posters with our show dates on it,

we've got leaflets.

What are you really doing is harnessing the marketing power.

-'The man power, if you like.'

-That's right.

Let's see if we can't have the best Castlewellan Agricultural Show ever!

We're off to the Castlewellan Show

where tonight the Three Graces are to mount a sponsors' bash.

The purpose - to make those 200 sponsors feel

that the Castlewellan Show is their show.

We have invited over 250 guests along.

Feeling the pressure. We've done a lot of good work in this past week

in preparation for tonight.

Preparation for these kind of events is everything.

We've put a lot of time and effort into it.

I think we have nearly everything covered.

We should be able to deliver what was expected of us.

Let's hope that my goody bag idea pays off because otherwise

the Three Graces are going to look like the Three Stooges.

And with this depressing April drizzle, it's a tough audience.

Step up to the mic, chairperson Michelle...

Castlewellan and District Agriculture Show is in its 46th year.

..salaried secretary, Jackie...

This year we would like to see significant increase in footfall.

..and treasurer Teresa.

Are you making the most in promoting your business

and promoting your products through the Castlewellan Show?

We have a sponsors' goody bag

for you all to take away with you this evening.

We hope that this show will continue to grow into the future

and be the best one-day show in the north of Ireland.

We're coming to the end of the sponsors bash.

Was it a success? The jury's still out.

I've been involved in the show since the very first show

and many of the new things came in I didn't approve of

or particularly like, and all of a sudden I've got to admit

quite often I'm wrong anyhow, everybody else is right,

so it's brilliant to see those new things coming and maybe they all

won't be 100% successful but they'll all contribute to the show.

We've already had somebody approach us

to say they'll be very interested and they've already got

one of our banners to take off for their business in Banbridge.

That's a business 16 miles away.

The three of them seem to work very well together.

They do work well together. I think it's fantastic. I like it.

It's all good, sure it's girl power. It's great.

I say let the girlies at it.

I've received a cheque at the end of the speeches,

so we're actually having a result.

Any man who underestimates a woman is a fool

and those women are going to prove it.

They've got great energy. If you have great energy, you get things done

and a great attitude. A smile opens the door.

-We've been very forward in approaching sponsors.

-Very forward.

They seem to get things done that men don't seem to manage.

That's what I think anyway.

-Am I right?

-Yeah, you're right.

-That's what I think.

-You agree, Jimmy?

-Yes.

-Good man.

They may be quite happy,

but I've got another challenge

and this time they really going to have to up their game.

I've lined up a potential sponsor - a favour for the Three Graces,

but it's all down to their pitch.

-Hello, Charlotte.

-Hello.

-I don't know whether you've ever been to Castlewellan show?

-No, I haven't, actually.

We're set in the parklands near Castlewellan

and we're overlooked by a lovely castle, so we are.

We've found that shows have started to get a bit stale,

so we want to do something a little bit different

and the idea of a clothing village,

clothing tent would come with vintage tea!

And to host the fashion show in the vintage tea tent

we're looking for sponsorship of £1,000.

That's bang for her buck for Charlotte.

Hi, Sarah. We'll be promoting all the attractions of the show

in the local papers. We would be putting it on our Facebook

just to promote the fashion end of the show

because it IS such a new venture for us.

In relation to the tent, where is it going to be positioned?

The marquees are right along the middle of the show field

and along in front of that there, you have all the main arenas.

So, catering-wise, have you got anybody on board already?

Sorry, I forgot to mention that. Yes, we have.

The WI have very graciously accepted the offer to host the tea.

And would you consider champagne, prosecco,

sort of make it a little bit more glamorous?

-That would be very nice.

-We would consider that.

I think it raises the bar a bit. I'm not sure what licenses you have,

but I think it does raise the bar a little bit.

The ladies of the WI will love that. I'd kill for a glass now!

Well, ladies, a bit of a mixed bag,

good and bad. No introductions.

You waltzed in there, stood in front of her, the three of you

and didn't introduce yourselves. Michelle waffled quite a lot.

Charlotte was certainly impressed with you, Theresa.

Jackie, you called Charlotte, Sarah,

and the decision, she said...

Ill take it at a thousand. I would have paid 1,500.

I've offered the whole thing for a thousand

and if they're saying the promotion beforehand, the press beforehand,

the banners, the whole set up in the tent,

they're supplying models, I certainly would have gone

to sort of 1200-1500 for that, without a problem.

What does that tell me? It tells me

that you don't understand the value of what you've actually got to sell.

So, she'll take it, thank you very much,

but as ever in these things, it's conditional.

She needs to know that the teas that you'll provide

will be dainty and in keeping with the Magee brand. Yeah?

We are a good quality brand, we're not a cheap brand,

-we're not trying to be.

-She only wants to deal with one person.

I'm more than happy to help with certain things,

but it's much easier to have one person, if you have 3 people,

-a ball will drop.

-I think if we hand that to Theresa,

because I'm very busy show day and Jackie with the schedule...

And you've got your head around it, anyway.

-I think she'll be happy with that.

-I'd be delighted.

On that basis I'd say, you're on the doorstep,

but you've got to get through the door yet.

You've got another little test.

We have some more work to do to fully get Charlotte on board,

but nonetheless we've made a major step forward here.

And it's very exciting. It's great.

There was a few bits and pieces that I messed up.

Such an important thing for us to get something like this into our show.

It makes us different from all the other shows that's local.

I know we maybe could've maybe asked for more,

but if this takes off this year, we can build on it next year.

Still upbeat seven weeks later, the trio trial their vintage tea.

Would the mock-up please the lady from Magee?

So, really, the vintage tea this afternoon

is about the three girls at the show committee

meeting up with Charlotte to present a mock-up, if you like,

of how we see ourselves taking things forward.

I think it's really exciting, it's petite, it's pretty

it's sort of girly and it's got the vintage theme running through it,

from the plates to the flowers and the tea pot

and I think, yeah, it's lovely, very, very cool.

So, it's all systems go for six sittings and the WI.

We've reduced the six sittings to now four sittings,

which we think is much more practical.

Practical, perhaps, but is it profitable?

We need to be careful in terms of the decisions around the supplier

and what, realistically, we're expecting from them,

and what they can deliver, and can they deliver what we have today?

Can I say that one of the ladies was a WI lady that done the baking today

so they obviously... they can produce what we need.

This is not what they're presenting me with at this stage,

and that's not what I've based the costs on.

I would prefer the WI doing it, but doing what we had today.

One option I'm looking at can deliver today,

but I'm afraid it's not with the WI.

There's a fair bit going on in the marquee and we need a slick service.

With or without the WI.

It's all go on the day before the show.

There's been a few crises, but were getting there.

Basically today is big set-up day.

All the players, all the things are in place

and now it's all about bringing it together.

But where are the women of the WI?

The catering... we're using a local girl, Alex Berry,

simply because we know how good she is.

Hoping to be equally good is show secretary Jackie.

I've prepared as well as what I can.

It's been hard work and quite an experience, I have to say.

There's nobody perfect, I know there will be blips,

but if there's a blip this year, you know to look out for it next year.

So here it is, the opening day

of the Castlewellan Agricultural Show 2013,

which means it's crunch time for the Three Graces,

unless they get a lot more people paying to come through those gates

this morning and a lot more revenue coming out

of what's going on here today, there will be no show next year.

The future of this show rests on them today.

And if they fail, my word, my word, they'll fall from grace!

So, the Three Graces, did you all work together?

We worked really well the whole year through,

probably the one thing that gave us a wee bit of more effort

was your suggestion of doing a vintage tea tent.

Why was that, do you think?

Just getting everybody's agreement on who

we would get to do our catering, we got there in the end.

We have our entries, which was a suggestion from yourself

to increase the entry into cattle and sheep.

Every section is up. We've got a lot of new sponsors on board this year.

That was key, too. How many do you reckon you brought in?

I think, now I'll have to check with Jackie on the final,

but I think we got over 15 new sponsors

and we got a new website up and going, so we did,

so we were able to link in a lot of our new sponsors

and they were also taking feeds from our website.

We're looking, actually, for a big increase

and I'm going to ask you, as a gambling lady,

what increase are you going to get as a percentage over last year?

I would like to be thinking we're up 10, 15 per cent on last year.

15 percent. There you go. Right, I'm holding you to that.

Has that optimistic forecast permeated Portakabin Central?

It's a busy weekend, it's the bank holiday weekend with us,

which means there's various other things on but I know there's...

You've got a fair among of publicity going, I think?

We have. The publicity has been brilliant.

Later on tonight, we're going to sit down,

towels around our heads and work out the sums.

That's great.

And that will tell us whether we're to meet again next year.

-No problem, that will tell the true story.

-All right.

-OK.

With that, I trot off to meet fashion tea lady, Theresa.

I'm concerned that she's hacked the number of sittings

and is offering a bargain basement prize for her buns.

Even in a tea tent, it's all about footfall.

So, one of your tasks then was the tea tent.

It was a profit driven project. How much are you charging?

-Six pounds.

-Six!

-Six pounds, yes.

Do you think that's cheap?

I think given the fact that people are already paying ten pounds

as a gate fee into the show, six pounds...

Yeah, that's another argument. What's the profit margin on your £6?

It's small, it is small.

So, if you don't fill four sittings with a hundred people

it's going to be either miniscule or you are going to make a loss?

-Possibly.

-A loss?

-Possibly. So it's...

Where's the prayer tent?

It's all about tea tickets for cash, no freebies, Theresa!

With 5 minutes to go, the tea tent is noisy, but not full.

-It looks all right, doesn't it?

-It looks very nice.

-For six pounds, I think it looks quite good value.

-Yes, it is.

ANNOUNCEMENT BLARES

What would you have paid?

Sadly, the response is drowned out.

-Can I offer you a scone?

-Can we call you Nick?

Full capacity or not, the fashion show must go on.

There are four sessions today. That was session number one,

and I thought we had a little bit of a disaster on our hands.

But when the clock struck 11, it was 80 per cent full.

Undercharging, though. The people on my table

thought it was cheap, they would have paid a lot more

than the six pounds asked for.

At the end of the day, it's all about figures. Every penny counts.

And was sponsor Charlotte getting enough bang for her buck?

It was a little bit quiet at a quarter to eleven,

-but it filled up.

-Do you think the models... who were they?

They were a mixture of daughters, partners, we were happy.

There were a few sizing issues, I have to say, sometimes models

think they're one size and when you actually... we literally,

this morning was the first time they tried it on.

Looking at the audience in there, are they your customers?

There's a mix. There's a cross section

of our customer there. We are trying to promote our womenswear.

There are a lot of women. People think we do menswear, so it's good.

When you get home tonight you'll be looking at your website

-to see how many hits it's had.

-Hoping so.

-Is that right?

-And you want to see a surge, am I right?

-Yeah.

Over the course of the day, there's been a huge amount of PR

-in the run up to this, so fingers crossed.

-Good.

As Royal Bath & West supremo Dr Jane Guise

judges the young handlers competition,

I set off at a canter around the Castlewellan Show

and watch the numbers swell.

But only the over-16s will turn the footfall into hard cash.

As the Castlewellan Show comes to a close,

I meet up again with Dr Jane Guise.

So, Jane, I'm sort of turning to you as the guru

because you've been running the Bath & West Show for 12 years.

And the Bath & West has been running since 1777,

so does Castlewellan have that same smell of success?

Do you know, I think it does, not necessarily success at this moment,

because we won't know what the out-turn is,

but what I can smell is innovation. You've got three ladies, who were

absolutely full of enthusiasm, they've come up with some new things,

and I haven't been to Castlewellan, so I can't judge

the size of the crowd, but it felt really healthy

and we'll see when the final figures come in.

I loved their fashion show and their vintage tea.

That was just so right. If you change everything

all in one go at a show society, all the membership leaves

and gets cross and grumpy.

The proof will be in increased footfall.

Increased footfall is increased gate money. And that's the lifeblood.

I'm afraid it is, and horrible commercial beast that I am,

but I'm afraid it's all about the cash on the gate.

So, ladies, let's talk figures.

When we first met at the committee meeting

there were you three, frankly, surrounded by the old committee.

Did you break them down, did you seduce them,

-did you get them behind you?

-Absolutely, it's brilliant.

Right. I'm going to start with trade stands.

The trade stands would have brought in about 8,500 for the show.

-Same costs as last time. Same number.

-Yeah.

-Static. Livestock?

There was an increase of about 2,500.

Not going to set the world on fire with that, are you?

Let's turn to sponsorship, Theresa?

Sponsorship is up 25% this year, which is excellent.

What does the 25% translate to in sterling terms?

It's £25,000.

25,000, that's OK.

Now, Michelle, it was your idea to have a vintage tea

with a fashion show, but it was in fact Theresa that ran it.

-How did it go?

-We had about 88% of the seats covered today.

How much money did you make?

We have made a profit overall of £740.

You could have made more. I think you were too cheap.

But, listen, it's not all good news

because you have £1,000 from the sponsorship from Magee

and I spoke to Charlotte and Charlotte's not altogether convinced

that she's coming back next year. And I suggest to you,

if you really want to make this a success,

start building a sort of retail village around it.

And would you be good enough to move that tent away from those tannoys

and away from the main ring? Too noisy.

Right at the start, at the committee meeting,

we talked about increasing the footfall.

The more people, the more gate money,

the more people, the higher you can charge the sponsors.

It's all about numbers, and what happened? Michelle?

The girlies have done it. Record-breaking.

-We're up 27% on our gate.

-Oh, that's good.

-It's just fantastic.

Michelle, Jackie and Theresa have done exactly

what they promised they'd do.

They've secured the future of the Castlewellan Agricultural Show.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd