Iconic Somerset cider maker makes appearance on family business podcats World famous family-run cider maker, Thatchers are the next guests on chart-topping It Runs In The Family podcast, with the firm’s father and daughter stressing how family values have played a huge role in developing a small apple orchard into a successful 117-year-old cider company that now sees the Thatchers brand in shops, pubs, bars and restaurants in more than 20 countries. Martin Thatcher, Managing Director and fourth generation cider maker and his daughter Eleanor, fifth generation cider maker, join mother and daughter podcast hosts, Liz and Leila Willingham, on It Runs In The Family. The episode reveals the family’s love, care and attention towards the business and its craft and how this has helped to develop their now 500-plus acre operations at Myrtle Farm in Sandford, North Somerset. Listeners can hear Martin and Eleanor talk about the complexities of growing a team with the same strong values as the family members themselves, the sense of pride in the previous generations and the risks they took to grow an iconic cider brand. This episode covers: •
How a generations-old business generates new ideas
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Focusing on organic development, and treasuring their talented team members
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Measuring your success by the generation that follows you
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The particularly careful task of recruiting for a family business with strong values
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Episode highlights: “We've changed the whole way we're growing apples, very much down to my father and his foresight of how we should be growing apples for the future, and the whole industry has moved in that direction.” - 5:25 - Martin Thatcher “As my father retreated back into the farming, I moved on to look after all of the business. I can see the same happening with Eleanor, where she's now looking after the fermentation. She can look after a bit more and a bit more until eventually, I'm just the backup team!” - 17:25 - Martin Thatcher “I think you both understand what it's like to be a family member working in the business, and how everyone else sees you in that respect. So, I think that there's been a few moments where we get what each other is feeling with respect to certain things.” - 26:30 - Eleanor Thatcher
