Chairman’s Comments • Allan Stevenson Return to the Club To celebrate the reopening of the Club I had a fabulous dinner last night on the Terrace with Vice Chairman Keith Redpath. We decided to come to London, from Scotland, to see the small staff team who are now back at work and to enjoy our Club. We also met with the Management Team to review our financial position and look forward with a revised and expanded events programme 15 months ahead. It is good to see members lunching today and bookings for rooms being secured. The Restaurant menu may be slightly smaller for now, but the quality of food and service is fabulous and specials are appearing.
Chairman’s Comments “I urge you all to make just one room booking now, for between now and the autumn, to help the Club get back on its feet. Please come and enjoy your Club and support the British farmers and producers who supply our Restaurant. We need full bedrooms and a busy Club as quickly as possible.”
I AM sitting on the Terrace of the Farmers Club with my friend and Vice-Chairman Keith Redpath, as the Club has just opened again in mid-July, and we are here for a few nights. As I look back at my Chairman’s Comments in the last Journal, written in late February, it is a shock to notice there is no mention of the Covid19 risk nor of the events that followed so fast in March. By the time the Journal reached the Club membership, this was the main global news story. Only weeks before neither business leaders, politicians, nor the mainstream media had any idea of the health pandemic and economic tsunami that was about to hit us all. Farming response Since then little else has taken our attention, whether at home, on our farms, or elsewhere, and sadly much personal suffering has been experienced by so many people. I fear there is a terrible long term price to pay for the economic lockdown in the UK, which appears to have been better managed in some other countries. However, it has been encouraging to see how the farming industry has risen to the challenges of operational complexities, disrupted supply chains, but also real innovation and rapid pivoting of businesses to meet changed circumstances, whilst keeping fresh and high quality farm produce on the nation’s tables, if not, sadly, in its restaurants. The impact on our Club, by necessitating a complete closure, has been severe. The Management Team, Trustees and Club committees have been busy working together to take steps to protect the Club as much as possible, minimise costs and create an assured future that could be denied to other top London Clubs.
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Many of you have asked me if I am to stay on for another year, due to the significant ruination of my year and cancellation of more or less the entire events programme. For many reasons, the answer is no, as you might know from the AGM resolutions. However, next year’s Chairman, Keith, has agreed to share a number of events with me, with a larger programme, and I plan to attend about six of the main agricultural shows next summer. I will also host my Chairman’s trip to Burgundy in September 2021 – a year late. We are also looking at what can be salvaged this year, and in what format, as restrictions may continue for a while. Welcoming Club You may have noticed that I took the challenge of speaking to members from our Terrace on video and the Club shared the 90 second communiqué on Instagram and other social media. Please follow the Farmers Club on our social media channels. This video was produced to show members that the Club is open, safe, and very welcoming indeed. The Restaurant and Bar are operating with a reduced menu initially, until more members return. I urge you all to make just one room booking now, for between now and the autumn, to help the Club get back on its feet. Please come and enjoy your Club and support the British farmers and producers who supply our Restaurant. We need full bedrooms and a busy Club as quickly as possible. Agriculture Bill I have focused on the Club for this Journal, but we are also keeping an eye on critical political developments with the Agriculture Bill, which has nearly completed its journey through Westminster, and the negotiations on Brexit. Plenty of scope for troubling farmers in the months ahead. I wish all our farming members a great harvest period in the months ahead, and hope we don’t have to deal with the excessive rain like last year. A heatwave would be better!
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