Archive Article: 2001/12/14

14 December 2001




Peter and Julie White

WHEN Peter and Julie White decided to diversify they wanted it to be completely away from farming. Whitey Top Farm, Pentridge, Salisbury, is a 140ha (350-acre) livestock farm, milking 150 Friesian Holsteins and rearing Aberdeen Angus and Charolais beef cattle.

With one full-time employee and two summer casual workers, arable contracting is also part of the business. It truly is a family farm as Peters mother, 74-year-old Jean, gets up at 5.30am every day to help him with the milking. Milk was the only product sold from the farm until the new project got under way.

Peter believes farming skills can easily be used in the retailing market and he and Julie had always been fascinated by the fashion industry. Dresses were their first thought, but they had the opportunity to sell some lingerie and they have never looked back. Now classic and exotic lingerie is sold via the internet and hits on the company website would be the envy of many a large commercial enterprise.

No planning permission was necessary to convert a redundant dairy into an office. With a telephone, computer and three filing cabinets, only two large hangers give any hint of the products for sale. Every garment is bought in and suppliers reply to an order within 48 hours, so there is little need for stock. There are hundreds of styles in the range and they have recently introduced almost 600 items from America.

Business Link provided a small set-up grant and the marketing is aimed at those associated with farming and the countryside. Advertisements are placed in glossy magazines that end up on coffee tables or in doctors surgeries. These have a shelf life of anything up to a year, whereas a tabloid papers life is only two weeks.

"You must do your homework and dont get ripped off by the internet," advises Peter. "Go to a computer store and buy a programme and dabble to start with, rather than getting an internet company to set up a website for you.

"This project fits in brilliantly with the farm requirements; in the summer its quiet and leading up to Christmas it is busy. The nice thing is we have the opportunity of doing something quite different without physically leaving the farm."


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