Flourish Foodhall & Kitchen
Flourish are a destination farm shop and kitchen between Bath and Bristol. Started June 24th, 2021, and now employing over 60 staff. Flourish believes everyone involved in food production and consumption should benefit – farmers, customers, and environment. This principle has been their business ethos from the outset.
What they’ve done
Founder Paul Castle believes that ‘if you chase profit, you will make sacrifices’. His years of experience supporting farmers has shown that communities – of suppliers, customers, your staff and within the local area are the key asset to retain if the business is to be resilient and successful. The pandemic saw a fundamental shift his staff and their needs. Some of how Flourish have responded:
Creating a £200 no cost loan facility within payroll for staff to use at their discretion.
‘It’s an emotional place to work’ Paul spends around 80% of his time directly supporting his staff and their welfare.
Free counselling facility for staff.
Consider branding, comms and how their story is told so the local community are involved and understand Flourish ethos.
Hosting 3 adult neurodiverse placements
Flourish have a partnership with major produce wholesaler Paul Hargreaves. Now they have weathered challenges of rising energy costs and first year figures there are plans to expand into Salisbury.