Pre-Brexit, pre-covid it was easy.  We bought a small property in Paris (7ième) over 20 years ago.  Nothing fancy, small, a pied-à-terre, and we’ve had a lot of fun from it, although it has also had its moments of heartache, trashed twice by tenants, leaks from upstairs and fighting back damp. Hands on management at a distance is not easy.

Covid restrictions kept us away for 12 months, until this July.  We found a window in the diary to go primarily to check for any water ingress, vermin and to be sure the taps, drains and internet still worked – and then a further 10-day window back home to quarantine. 

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Covid and its restrictions have knocked the stuffing out of a significant part of the venison market as with all businesses supplying restaurants and hotels, hospitality and events, food service and catering.  Shut down with the first national lockdown, a very short period of respite, and then shut down again, a proportion of UK venison sales have hit the buffers – from fine dining, to huge events serving 400 fillets in one sitting.

Retail remains consistent. Kantar reported venison performing well through UK retail/grocery up to February last year (UK venison sales volume +20%, value +12%) and continuing to do so.  Data to September 2020 showed more progress (sales +10%, value +7%) and the Christmas retail figures will probably show a further hike.

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Never (never, never, never, never, never!) has there been so much piffle, drivel, waffle, kerfuffle as there has been over the last few weeks/days/hours about GDPR.

Never (never, never, never, never, never!) have my in-box and my spam bin been so full of communication from people, companies, businesses, suppliers, contractors, contacts ad infinitum who I don’t know, have never spoken to, have never heard of, have never signed up to receive information from, but who are now sad to see me go. And why? They want my permission to keep my details on their databases and to keep sending me their stuff which I don’t read anyway.

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Our clients Saffery Champness and Smiths Gore are proud to be sponsors of the Oxford Union Debate at the annual Oxford Farming Conference. The Debate, which takes place in the famous Oxford Union where many politicians have cut their teeth, often provides some well-deserved light relief after a tough day of formal presentations at the Conference itself.

In keeping with that, Farmers Weekly awards a bottle of Champagne (or two) to the most iconoclastic contributions from the floor. This year was no exception in terms of the quality of debate, or that of offerings from the benches.

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“My destiny was down there – a clutch of shattered bones spilling down the mountainside. I was no longer breathing. I was drowning in my own fear.”

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We’ve really entered the era of the strip-off-for-charity calendar.

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Going to the Hill, Life on Scottish Sporting Estates, the latest and much awaited offering from acclaimed sporting and landscape photographer Glyn Satterley, is a delightful book.

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