Over the last couple of days, I had the privilege of speaking at the inaugural Groundswell Festival, alongside William Kendall, Sarah Dunning and Sheila Dillon. It was an inspiring couple of days, surrounded by farmers, producers and businesses who are all passionate about building a better food system. One thing surprised me, though.

I was stopped countless times by people asking what had actually happened with Pipers Farm, our family, Edenmoor and now our new company Pipers & Co.

The conversations were always incredibly kind, but it became clear there are a lot of different versions of our story in circulation. Some people thought we’d sold Pipers Farm. Others thought Pipers Farm had simply rebranded as Edenmoor. Others believed my parents had retired, Abby was on maternity leave, and everything had simply carried on as before.

The reality is rather different. So, rather than leave room for more speculation, I thought it was time to explain our story in my own words.

⸻

My parents started Pipers Farm in 1989. Having farmed in New Zealand, the Yorkshire Dales and then producing chickens for M&S in the 1980s, they came away with a simple belief: there had to be another way of producing and selling food.

Back then, many of the ideas that feel commonplace today were anything but. Building direct relationships with farmers. Championing slower-grown livestock. Paying farmers fairly. Building long-term supply chains and selling directly to customers.

For many years they were operating almost entirely alone. That meant they had to build almost everything themselves.

My dad taught himself to butcher. We farmed ourselves. We built relationships with producers. We opened shops. We became early adopters of mail order and later one of the UK’s first online meat businesses.

Looking back, it was an extraordinarily ambitious and complex business model. But over the following 35 years it also became something we were immensely proud of. Together with an incredible team, we built a network of over 50 farms, supported countless artisan producers and eventually supplied exceptional food into more than 50,000 homes every year. Perhaps more importantly, we felt we were helping prove that food could be produced differently.

Long before regenerative agriculture became part of everyday conversation, we were trying to build supply chains around long-term relationships with farmers, slower-grown livestock and food produced in a way that respected both the land and the animals upon it. Groundswell this week was a wonderful reminder of just how much that movement has grown.

⸻

In 2017, we took on external investment. Looking back, I learnt one lesson above all others. Alignment is more important than capital.

Investment can be transformative for a business. It allows businesses to grow, employ people, invest in infrastructure and reach more customers. But it only works over the long term if everyone remains aligned on what the business exists to achieve.

Over time, that alignment was lost.

Without going into the minute detail of what became an incredibly difficult period, it became clear that we could no longer build Pipers Farm in the way we believed it should be built.

That wasn’t a decision any of us ever wanted to face. If we truly believed we could continue building the business according to the philosophy we had spent 35 years developing, we would still be there today. Instead, in April 2025, my parents and I left the business.

Abby’s departure followed later that year after a prolonged and difficult exit process. Although our departures happened at different times, and under different circumstances, together they marked the end of our family’s involvement in the company we had each devoted so much of our lives to building.

Leaving wasn’t a commercial transaction.
We didn’t sell the business. We didn’t leave with customers. We didn’t leave with suppliers. We didn’t leave with stock, premises or infrastructure. We simply left.

What followed was a lengthy legal process to recover the Pipers Farm name. It was emotionally and financially draining, but ultimately it allowed us to retain something that had represented 35 years of our family’s work and the name of our family home.

The business we, and many of our core team of staff left, has since rebranded as ‘Edenmoor’.

⸻

People often ask whether Pipers & Co is simply “the new Pipers Farm.” The answer is both yes and no.

No, because it is a completely new company.

Yes, because it is being built by the same family, with the same philosophy and the same belief that great food begins with great relationships throughout the supply chain.

For a while, we genuinely didn’t know what came next. Starting again wasn’t the plan. But the more we reflected, the more we realised we hadn’t lost the thing that mattered most.

We hadn’t lost our belief in the farmers, producers and supply chains we’d spent 35 years helping to build. That belief became the foundation for Pipers & Co. This time, though, we’re starting with something my parents didn’t have in 1989.

A community.

Groundswell reminded me of that more than anything. There are now thousands of farmers, producers, retailers, chefs and customers who believe food can be produced differently. We are no longer trying to build an island. We’re trying to become part of something much bigger.

Pipers & Co isn’t about recreating the past. It’s about taking everything we learnt over 35 years. The successes, the mistakes and the lessons, and building something even stronger for the future.

We believe that producers deserve genuine choice in how they reach their customers. We believe customers deserve genuine choice in how they buy their food. And we believe that when you build strong relationships throughout the supply chain, more of the value created by every purchase can flow back to the people producing exceptional food.

To everyone who has supported us, encouraged us, shared kind words or simply asked how we’re doing, thank you. It has meant more than you know. We’re incredibly excited about what comes next.

We hope Pipers & Co becomes a business that not only supplies exceptional food, but also continues doing what Pipers Farm always tried to do: facilitate relationships between producers and customers in a way that allows everyone to thrive.

Here’s to the next chapter.

Will