On a squally September day, as one of the storms bestowed with a name started to blow in, Holly, Rachel (our photographer) and I set off on the next leg of the ‘Journey’, venturing down to Chagford in Devon.

Chagford is a gorgeous market town on the north-east edge of Dartmoor, quaintly traditional with a thriving village centre, it also seems to be in a part of Dartmoor that is a bit of a hotbed for food, farm and craft businesses that are starting to make waves well outside of their county.

One such business is The Dartmoor Shepherd, established in July 2016 by Flora Searson and Lewis Steer.

With strong branding and Instagram presence, The Dartmoor Shepherd came to my attention some time ago and after meeting Flora on their stand at Burghley Horse Trials, I was keen to hear more about their journey as a business.

As we pulled up outside their workshop, surrounded by fields of sheep and gorgeous views, we knew we were in the right place when we spotted their distinctive double shepherd crook logo on the end of their barn.

After meeting their team of makers and a welcome mug of tea, we sat down with Flora and our list of things we were keen to hear more about.

To give you some background to the couple, Flora was born on the Isle of Wight and moved to Chagford when she was three. Given that you’re probably assuming that they both come from farming backgrounds, it’s important to let you know that both Flora’s parents are teachers, so Flora didn’t grow up on a farm and post A-levels went to Bath Spa University and studied Creative Media Practice. Her degree subject was chosen because she has a keen interest in marketing and shared with us that she prefers creative subjects to things like maths and the more technical subjects.

Luckily for the now-Flora, her degree was very practical and involved lots of photography. At this point, she thought that post-degree she would move to London and get a job. 

Lewis and Flora met in Chagford in her first year at University, Lewis was at The Royal Agricultural University studying Land Agency.

When they met, Lewis had a hobby flock of sheep on his parent’s 12 acres, and his passion for farming was clear to see, although he didn’t see it as a viable career option at that point. Luckily, Flora also loved learning about keeping sheep and most of their University holidays were spent tending to their small flock. 

Flora recounted to us that in Lewis’s third year, everyone started applying for jobs. Lewis received a job offer from William Chase of Chase Distillery based in Hereford. On the face of it, this was a really good job to start his career with, but the problem was that he still wasn’t sure whether he wanted to actually be a Land Agent or work in an office. He really wanted to farm. 

Flora recalled that after going to Hereford to have a look around the area, they sat in a café and her question to him was, “Do you actually want to do this?” His response was, “Actually, I don’t know if I do…”. They made the decision there and then that he wouldn’t take the role and they would try and create a business based around their beloved sheep.

They ended up moving back in with their very supportive parents and Flora got a part-time job in Exeter doing Marketing Communications for the Diocese of Exeter. Meanwhile, Lewis did part time jobs, going out as a bookie with his Uncle and working on a shearing gang, and Flora branched out into building websites in her spare time.

Alongside all of this they were slowly starting to build their business. They made the decision to grow the flock, at this point they had about 35 sheep and they began selling meat boxes to a few local pubs.

They set their plans for growth of the flock, but then realised quickly, that they needed to diversify more, Flora recalls how, “there’s a tannery in Buckfastleigh so we said, ‘let’s get some sheepskins tanned and see how they go.’  We had them on our stall and they flew out, so we decided we were going to push that more as well and develop a retail side to the business.

We were going to call our company The Dartmoor Sheepskin Company but I went to register the domain and somebody had already taken it, panic! But we chatted and came up with The Dartmoor Shepherd instead. I look back now and am really grateful that it was The Dartmoor Shepherd as it gives us so much more flexibility.”

Here at Countrywoman’s Guide, we know that growing a business is always difficult, a minefield of forward steps and backward runs (well that’s what it feels like at times!). As time went on Flora and Lewis felt ready to take the next step and moved to both of them working in the business full-time.

We could see what a good idea that was, when we saw the passion with which Flora described her transition into the farming business.

“I worked in Exeter part-time for just under two years, I did enjoy it, but I lived for the days when I was in the field with Lewis and working on the business.  So we decided, right we’re going to push this business.”

“Our kind of mindset was that we were straight out of Uni, living with our parents and didn’t have anything to lose. So, I handed in my notice and then just full-pelt pushed all my energy into the business.”

Luckily their skills complement each other, Flora explained that Lewis is great at accounts and operations whilst Flora loves the marketing and creative side. Flora shared that at this point, they still weren’t paying themselves any wages.

Sensing how important this point is to share with other start-up business owners, Emma asked Flora, “How long was it until you took a wage – if you don’t mind me asking?  It’s just that people often think you start a business and soon after that, start paying yourself money.” 

Flora laughed, “It was years and years, I think we didn’t start paying ourselves until 2020 and even then, it was an absolute pittance. It really was a token gesture, but it felt like a win.”

Initially, they were very much based around the Chudleigh area, but then they secured their first tenancy near another village and carried on adding small parcels of land wherever they could get it.

In response to a question about what some of the hardest bits have been, Flora shared, “at one point we had 16 different landlords, and it was hell. It was a lot of driving around and it was really difficult, but it is so hard to get land, that you have to take what you can get.

Land access has been probably one of the hardest things coming into it and if you’re not from farming stock at all, I really don’t know where you would start.

We did have one parcel of land near Exeter, which was horrible, people would fly tip there all the time.  In the end, the landowners told us we had to leave because they were going to sell the land.”

They were back to working out where on earth they could put the sheep, and then luckily fate intervened again!

Lewis’s family have a small Christmas tree business and the heroes of our story were selling Christmas trees and met a couple, who had just acquired land in Chagford. They asked Lewis and Flora if they wanted to rent the land, which of course they absolutely did.

2018 transformed their land availability and that in turn transformed the business.

Whilst producing the sheepskins, they had developed some smaller products to sell, but to produce these in larger quantities made cashflow really hard as they had to commit to making lots of stock for shows as the company they were working with had minimum order quantities.

Flora remembers, “we kind of felt that we wanted to be more adaptable and creative with the products, we kind of dreamed of making things in-house so that people could come to us with bespoke things, like different-shaped cushions.”

Then a grant became available and they saw the opportunity to transform what they were doing. They went to the couple who owned the land, and they agreed that if Lewis and Flora got the planning permission, their landlords would fund the building costs alongside the grant and today Flora and Lewis rent the land and buildings from them. 

“We’re really lucky, they’ve been so supportive of us. There’s something so lovely about it all being on the farm, where the sheep grow and the product is made.”

I pointed out that it’s clear that Flora’s marketing skills have also propelled them forward.

Flora agreed that it is a great unique selling point and helps them to collaborate with some really cool brands. She says, “to be able to bring them here and walk them round the sheep and for them to see all the products being made is a really cool thing.

I asked what the hardest bits have been for the couple along the way, Flora didn’t need any thinking time on this one…

“Land security, not having land security has been the hardest thing, that anxious feeling of what if this land gets pulled from us –  where will the sheep go and what are we going to do?  Cashflow has also been really hard – in farming you need a lot of kit. When we started Lewis had a Mini and that was it, but the Royal Countryside Fund helped us with a Land Rover, for which we will be eternally grateful.

The most stressful times have been farm-based, rather than retail-based, in the sense that you’ve got these animals and you really care for their welfare, it’s only really been in the last four years that we’ve been able to breathe and not think we’re about to be turfed out of here.”

We were keen to know about how they balance life and working together, you can tell that they are a really ‘together’ couple, but even for them it must be difficult sometimes…

Flora laughed and said, “it really can be a struggle separating things, we are quite similar, but we can find that all we talk about when we get home is our business, it’s like our baby, it’s all we talk about. It can feel a bit like you’re always working, but also it’s amazing because we’re always bouncing off each other and we’re best friends and we get to spend all day together!”

Flora then added that she’s aware that might sound really cheesy and was quick to point out that they do fight as well! But they do have a shared vision about where they want the business to go, and the constant chatter about things does make sure that they are aligned all the time.

I was keen to point out that, as you grow, the ability to move on from opportunities that no longer serve you so that you grow to the next stage can sometimes be difficult. Flora nodded in agreement, saying that as they’ve grown it’s become much more like a business which, is moving it away from the actual farming for Lewis. He absolutely doesn’t want to lose his connection to farming and become a just a business man, so they structure things to avoid that happening.    

This struck a nerve for all of us and we ended up chatting about how often you think that your partner has to like everything that you like, and one of the journeys that couples need to go through is understanding that you both tick differently and that is a thing that creates strength in a relationship and a business.

Moving back to the business, Flora shared that coming to it with fresh eyes, and not having started out as farmers, has been really tough and lots of hard lessons have been learnt, but it has also been so liberating as they have been able to develop their own business and try things without peer pressure. 

Freed of the confines of a traditional farming family structure, they haven’t had a pre-determined framework that they had to follow, so it has enabled them to adapt and find new ways of doing things.

“We can do things how we want and there is no-one there to let down, other than ourselves.”

In addition, as Holly remarked as we chatted, given the horrendously low price of wool and the fluctuations in the sheep market, that freedom to diversify and bring product production in-house massively increases the viability of the business long-term.

This year, the couple are lambing 350 ewes, and given that they keep the lambs into their second year and retain their breeding ewes, at the moment have about 850 sheep. 

Interestingly, the sheep are 100% pasture fed, which Flora admits they initially looked at because of financial limitations, but as part of coming to that decision, Flora was questioning why from a nutritional point of view, there was a need to actually keep feeding so many extras. Hundreds of years ago they would have just had the pasture to eat. 

As she says, their pivotal moment was when they attended a talk by the Dartmoor Hill Farm Project and their eyes were opened to the Pasture for Life movement. 

For them, Pasture for Life is better for the environment, the sheep and vet bills. So they transitioned across to this method and have been pasture only for the last four years now. They don’t top the fields and the sheep are mob grazed, using electric fencing with the sheep being moved pretty much every day.

Our conversation was followed by a walk around their fields, meeting some of their flock and drinking in the stunning scenery.

One of the very best things about getting out and about and meeting people at the places where they live their lives, has been to see what they see and to hear their enthusiasm about what they do. It’s pretty clear that Flora and Lewis have ambitious plans for their future and we can’t wait to see how it all pans out.

Huge thanks to them and their team for their hospitality. Here’s where you can find them:

The Dartmoor Shepherd, where they have a gorgeous online shop.

They also have a very tempting shop in Chagford, which is well worth a visit. I couldn’t resist a few purchases!

The Dartmoor Shepherd on Instagram.

Finally, we always ask our interviewees for a piece of advice to pass on to you, our readers, here’s what Flora had to say:

“Don’t be afraid to take risks – in this day and age, it’s very appealing to think that a steady income, or this or that, is safe but if you’re dreaming of something and you want to do it, take the risk and do it. 

I think, look at things from a worst case scenario and if I can handle that, then it’s worth taking the risk. If it all goes wrong, I could go back and get a job or try this for two years and then if it’s not working, you can always go back and do something else.”