It’s the turn of our Foreman, Nigel Smith, to take centre stage as we feature a much-revered member of our Production team.
We were fortunate to have Nigel join us four years ago and he is an instrumental member of our production crew with a wealth of experience behind him.
Nigel’s love of the land stems from childhood, and he grew up in Wales, the son of an Estate Manager. With many key learnings from his father to draw on, Nigel then moved to Wiltshire when a job opportunity arose.
He began his time in England working as a Head Shepherd / Stockman and since then, has acquired a wealth of experience working on large estates. Nigel spent time working for racehorse breeder Robert Sangster at the 2000 acre Manton Estate, in Marlborough. (Businessman-turned-racehorse magnate Robert Sangster bought Manton in 1984 for £10 million and the state-of-the-art racehorse training centre has five separate yards, seven gallops and 220 horse boxes.)
Nigel has also worked for the Getty Family and spent a number of years at nearby Laverstoke Park, owned by ex-racing driver and Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter. Responsible for 4,000 acres, Nigel worked as Livestock Manager and then Farm Manager and it was here that he first met the Hewetson-Brown Family. Many years after this first meeting we were thrilled to have Nigel join us here at Ashe Warren Farm.
Outside of work, Nigel has two sons as well as a stepson and stepdaughter and is also a grandfather.
When he’s not caravanning or gardening, Nigel also enjoys training sheepdogs and works with border collies, bearded collies and kelpies. As a keen shooter, Nigel’s next training foray will be that of a gun dog.
Our production team benefit greatly from Nigel’s experience and we’re very pleased to have nabbed him for ourselves.