Manager reveals plans for new farm shop and helping The Engine Yard at Belvoir Castle near Grantham to reach ‘full potential’

A new farm shop is set to open so a castle retail village can “reach its full potential” following criticism.

It is planned for a new farm shop to open in the summer in the space of four empty units at The Engine Yard, Belvoir Castle’s retail village near Grantham.

Taking on the management role of the new shop and the existing Fuel Tank restaurant will be Nik Tooley, who was brought on board after a mutual friend of the Duchess of Rutland Emma Manners, put the two in contact.

Nik, who has experience in the hospitality industry, has high aspirations for both the farm shop and restaurant to offer something the “community can be proud of”.

He said: “The estate is vast and we make a lot of products here.

“There’s a vineyard here where we make wine, we make honey, there’s purebred Herefords, there’s sheep [and much more].

“There are a lot of products that we actually have on the estate from a food point of view.

“The estate has never really had a great retail outlet so having the restaurant come back under state control and not being a concession anymore and building the farm shop, the two can work in tandem with each other.

“Then for the broader Engine Yard, with new retail coming along and potential conversations for things like gyms, there is a lot going on here that is very positive.”

Over the last few years, the Engine Yard has faced criticism following the closure of several shops including The Idle Mole, B Jewellery, Jorge Artisan Foods, Cocoa Amore, Cherizena and Craft4Kids.

However, Nik hopes to turn this around and help the retail village reach its “full potential”.

He added: “I think the Engine Yard has not been reaching its full potential in the last few years and - that is a shame.

“The estate is beautiful and the buildings here are beautiful, so the potential here is genuinely huge and the estate is putting its money where its mouth is.

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“This is what we are going to do and how we are going to do it is by building a farm shop and putting together a food offering that’s really high provenance and very high quality, which doesn’t mean expensive.

“It just means clever buying and sourcing a product and having an offering that suits the estate.

“But, it’s also about being approachable to the local area and getting the locals to come back and hopefully appreciate we are here.”

Nik hopes the farm shop will offer people “both sides of retail experience”.

He added: “You should be able to go in there [the farm shop] and effectively do your weekly shop.

“They’ll be the deli section then the fresh vegetables, bread and cheeses, and you should be able to get the necessities.

“But equally, in other sections of the farm shop, you should be able to have your wants, not just your needs.

“The sort of things you think you’ll treat yourself too.

“They’re the two good things a farm shop should be able to achieve.”

From now until summer, work is taking place to build the farm shop, then install the shop fittings and eventually fill the shelves with the “lovely products” it hopes to offer customers.

“We’ve got a lot to do, but I think the reality is getting the information out there that we are doing it”, said Nik.

He added: “That’s new to the Engine Yard, we have been talking about these things but now we are actually doing it and being very serious about it and people can see that happening.

“Hopefully we will live up to that expectation and create something that is as good as we are saying that it is going to be.

“We want to create a coherent message from the Engine Yard as a whole.

“I think that starts from the farm shop and restaurant working together, product wise as well as staffing as well.

“But then for the broader Engine Yard, having really good retail experiences out of the restaurant and farm shop.”

What do you think of the new plans for The Engine Yard? Let us know in the comments below