Billy Ivory - Screenwriter

In a rare in-depth interview, Joules founder Tom Joule shares the story of his glorified market stall that grew into an icon of rural life and a darling of the City. 

With the business turning 30 this year and motoring on an extraordinary rate, I joined Tom at the Head Office in Market Harborough for a cup of tea and a chinwag. 

Get amongst it please.

Of all the things to be known for, building famous companies and exiting them with piles of cash, repeatedly, would be close to the top of most people’s list. William Kendall has had the kind of career that if proposed in a movie script might be poo-pooed by the studio as being ‘too farfetched’.  

But with New Covent Garden Soup Co and Green & Blacks, the farfetched was made a reality. Who would bet against his current businesses, Cawston Press and LA Brewery? Not I. If you are interested in anything to do with farming, food, trends, entrepreneurialism, careers and life planning then this will not be a wasted hour. 

Armed with nothing but a flask of tea, a homemade cinnamon muffin and my trusty digital recorder, I made for the Bluebell Woods. I had hoped to experience a British dawn chorus at its best and I wasn't disappointed. 

Feel free to join me from the off for some pre-chorus prattle and again at the end for some closing jabber. But the stuff to savour happens when I hand over sole control of the mic to the birds from minute 5 to minute 37. OMFG. Lush tings. 

James Herriot inspired at least two generations of children to become large animal vets. Tom Hume was one such wide-eyed youth. He recognised a desire to be intimately connected with nature and to understand how it functions. He then had the foresight to nurture that desire, channeling it towards his ultimate goal. 

Its rare to be able to speak to someone so in love with their work. It’s doubly rare for that person to be at the very top of their game. Aside from being every mother-in-law’s dream, Tom is by all accounts an excellent vet. Hopefully you will enjoy our chinwag!

He’s worked with Dominic West, Rosamund Pike, Pete Postlethwaite and Helena Bonham Carter and continues to write on (and be terribly secretive about) upcoming projects for the BBC and Channel 4. Billy Ivory went from bin man to Baftas and, of course, has a tram named after him in Nottingham.  

Together, we rabbit on about threatening village cricket teams, the Netflix model, addiction, actors, writing and a load of other codswallop. Tuck on in! 

Two artists absolutely entwined with nature. I met Deborah Bird and Beth Johnson to talk about how they find their flow, who their work is for and what the point of it all is. 

Newly elected Vice President of the National Farmers Union, Stuart Roberts, has a massive job on his hands. He forms one leg of a most newsworthy tripod, as the right hand man to the NFU's first female President. Stuart is no shrinking violet, he is a henchman that one can easily imagine sitting at the helm one day. A bewellington'd Jose Mourinho to Minette Batters' Bobby Robson, if you like. 

The National Farmers Union was founded in December 1908 and 110 years later still does its best to serve the interests of some 55,000 farmer members. In the wake of the Brexit vote, the NFU must surely now fight like a dog to establish a future that keeps its membership happy and that resonates with the customer. What a time to be elected to office. I met Stuart at his farm in Hampshire just before Christmas 2017. 

What does a professional gambler from a big city who thinks farmers are miserable old gits have in common with a retired rural councillor who grew up mucking in on his family farm? Answer - They now live but a few doors apart in a quiet Leicestershire village. Meet Jeff and Bob.

The recipe for their famous elderflower cordial hasn't changed in 30 years. Plenty of other things have. Late last year I went to meet Peverel Manners, son of co-founders Lord John and Lady Mary and the man at the helm of one of the most respected drinks brands in the country, Belvoir Fruit Farms. 

Presiding over a fast-fail product launch culture, a brand new factory and a drive towards export-led growth against a backdrop of impending sugar taxes, ever evolving consumer tastes and cheaper competition, Peverel has plenty to keep him occupied. 

Sheep midwifery is no walk in the park and the nightshift is particularly tough. The only guarantees are birth, afterbirth, death and solitude. Throw zero job security and spartan accommodation into the mix and job candidates become fairly thin on the ground. 

In this episode we hear from Adam, who spent almost a decade as a Night Lamber. Young, gay, single and ready to mingle, it begs the question - what the hell was he thinking?