Parlours to Par

Whilst agriculture remains an essential part of rural life, the face of farming continues to change with more and more farm owners opting to exploit the resources already available to them and embark upon new enterprises.

Tightening economic conditions, coupled with the fall-out from the foot and mouth outbreak and now the threat of avian flu have seen more and more farmers searching for innovative ways of exploiting their existing resources. This has ranged from introducing specialist crops to diversifying into new ventures in the leisure and tourism sectors.

To see how a traditional dairy farm can successfully diversify its interests into a whole new market, look no further than the Morley Hayes complex, which is situated in the picturesque Derbyshire countryside.

15 years after launching their first golf course, Morley Hayes is going from strength to strength with two golf courses and pavilion, a choice of three restaurants, plus a new four star hotel with 32 bedrooms and a variety of function suites.

So what is the secret behind the success of Morley Hayes, which is owned and run by the Allsop family?

The Allsop family had been dairy farmers for more than three generations when they purchased the farm in the early 1980's.

A decade on, the introduction of milk quotas and the steady decline in the farming industry forced the Allsop family to explore other ways of maintaining their income -hence their decision to diversify into the leisure market.

Morley Hayes opened in November 1991 and is still a family owned and run business. It has expanded from its original status as a farm with four employees to today's complex, which employs more than 200 people and is the area's main employer.

Golf courses are an obvious choice for many farmers wanting to diversify from farming since they have the space and the perfect rural setting in abundance. However, many have tried to branch out from traditional farming and failed due to problems with budget, bad planning and poor management - so why has Morley Hayes proved so successful?

The Allsop family were blessed with the perfect landscape, but knew it was going to take a great deal more than this to make this huge financial risk a success.

Andrew Allsop takes up the story:

"In the late 1980's the dairy farming industry was suffering from strong competition, which prompted us to explore other means of earning an income from the farm

"We knew we had the land and the right location to create a golf course, but as others had tried to make the move into the golf industry before us and failed we knew it would require a lot of research and hard work to create a successful venture

"The temptation is always to make the minimum investment possible since you don't know if the venture will be a success, but this is the biggest mistake of all – it is essential to have a sound business plan and structured investment to stand any chance of succeeding in today's cut throat market.

15 years on and for Morley Hayes to consolidate its position and continue to expand has required a unique talent for anticipating customer demand and identifying gaps in the county's leisure market:

"We started out with the golf courses and restaurants, which provided us with a basis to offer more services including functions, business conferences, wedding receptions and more recently civil wedding ceremonies," added Andrew.

In 2005 Morley Hayes expanded its complex of golf courses, bars and restaurants to include a hotel with 32 bedrooms and a choice of luxurious suites.

The hotel has recently been awarded a four star rating by the AA just three months after opening. This has been followed by a richly deserved AA Rosette for the established Dovecote restaurant, which exemplifies the vision, hard work and dedication of the whole Morley Hayes team.

"We are delighted to have been awarded four stars by the AA so soon after opening the hotel and to have been recognised for our cuisine with an AA Rosette," continued Andrew.

"We aim to continue responding to our customers by providing the range of services that they need and to improve on the high standards which we have set ourselves," added Andrew.

Farm diversification may be a huge financial risk, but Morley Hayes has demonstrated a well crafted idea, backed by sound investment and a good management team really can create a four star business.