Queen’s Award for Devon estate
Devon-based private landowner Clinton Devon Estates has been awarded the most prestigious business award in the UK, the Queen”s Award for Enterprise.
The award, in the category for sustainable development, is for business excellence and has been approved personally by the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
The summary of the Queens Award citation said: “Clinton Devon Estates receives the award for the radical business integration of resources to deliver unique capabilities for managing a very complex countryside business on their 500-year-old estate in Devon.”
John Varley, director of Clinton Devon Estates, said the award reflected the quality and performance of all staff working on the estates.
“At Clinton Devon Estates, across the wide scope of our operations, we are able to demonstrate a link up of a diverse set of resources to deliver significant benefits for the environment.
“From farming to farm shop and the provision of local affordable housing, public amenities and small business premises, the farm has generated a high spend within the local community on goods and services,” Mr Varley said.
historic
Clinton Devon Estates is a family concern with a history stretching back over 500 years.
Today it manages about 10,120ha (25,000 acres) of east and north Devon, more than half of which is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is the oldest company to win the Queens Award.
In addition to traditional businesses of farming and forestry, the estate encompasses conservation management of 1135ha (2800 acres) of Triassic Pebblebed Heaths, which have been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Other business initiatives include an equestrian arena, a sawmill and timber merchants, which have been awarded the Forestry Stewardship Council accreditation and a film set locations company.