INDEPENDENT OF THE MONTH
INDIE OF THE MONTH Bur y Lane AT BURY LANE, IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS! SIOBHAN GODWOOD FINDS OUT WHAT’S IN STORE FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON AT THIS FAMILY BUSINESS
the company to this day. His son Will is now the managing director, so it’s still a family business at heart, with other family members also involved as directors. Bury Lane now encompasses a huge food hall, a recently refurbished gift hall, a garden centre, a large cafe, a butchery and deli, and a children’s fun barn. “There are still some people working here who started at Bury Lane when it was a tiny shop in an orchard,” says Alison. “The family are very fortunate to have space to expand and lots of great, forward- thinking ideas for new and exciting things to offer visitors. For example, this summer, Will had the idea of expanding the fun barn – which is a children’s soft-play centre – to encompass an outdoor beach, which was a huge hit.” Unsurprisingly for a business that has food, gifts and fun at its heart, Christmas is a very big deal at Bury Lane. “Although the lilies are all year round, most of our other homegrown flowers are sold during spring and summer,” explains Alison. “So at Christmas, the focus is on the food hall and the gift shop. The building that is the garden shop in the summer becomes a dedicated Christmas shop, we have a Santa’s grotto, we do Christmas lunches in the cafe and, of course, in the butchery and the deli we’re busy supplying customers with their Christmas turkeys and hampers. Once Halloween and Bonfire Night are over, it’s full steam ahead for Christmas around here.” From the end of November, you can find Santa in his grotto at Bury Lane every weekend, and on two dates you can
isit it today and it’s hard to believe, but Bury Lane Farm Shop started its life more than 35 years ago as a small store, selling fruit and vegetables from a hut in an orchard. It’s still a family-run business, based on the farm that’s belonged to the Clayton family for many years, but since then, it’s moved to the other side of the A10, where there’s enough land to allow the shop the space to grow and expand into the huge operation that we see today. “The farm land is used to grow asparagus,” explains Alison Dyche, marketing coordinator at Bury Lane, “as well as being one of the biggest growers of British lilies, ranunculus, peonies and agapanthus. We supply many UK supermarkets with our lilies. But over the years, the farm shop has become a more important part of the family business, and it’s quite amazing how it’s grown.” The farm shop was initially the idea of Jeremy Clayton, who is chairman of
book either breakfast or tea with the man himself. In the cafe, there’s a varied menu of delicious breakfasts, lunches, snacks and drinks served every day, but over the Christmas period a special festive lunch will be served on 11 and 17 December. It’s hugely popular, and great value at £22.95 for two courses or £25.95 for three, so prior booking is absolutely essential. There’s a real focus at Bury Lane on providing local produce, and on reducing waste and packaging as much as possible. Fruit and veg is sold loose, and most of
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