Vox pops from the Farm Attractions Conference 2025
Description
Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Paul Marden.
If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website SkiptheQueue.fm.
If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter or Bluesky for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcast.
Competition ends on 19th February 2025. The winner will be contacted via Bluesky.
Show references:
Tom Pearcy, Chairman of NFAN and Controller of Fun at York Maze
Tom is the "controller of fun" at York Maze, the UK's most popular corn based attraction. Tom diversified from farming in 2001 with a small corn maze, and the business has quite literally grown year on year. York maze now has over 20 corn themed rides, shows and attractions. Tom was recently appointed chairman of the national farm attractions network, the representative body for the UK's farm attraction sector.
https://www.escapadegroup.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-bull-5907968/
Helen Bull - Chief Executive Officer - The Escapade Group Ltd
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartbeare/
Stuart Beare, CEO, Tulley’s Entertainment Group
Stuart has developed Tulleys Farm into one of the UK's best known seasonal attraction venues and operators. The Tulleys Farm Partnership includes retail, catering and venue hire.
The Tulleys Productions arm has been developed from the operational and marketing experience in the UK Halloween, Haunted and Scare attractions sector, it comprises of three key companies. Stuart's company Screams Attractions Ltd focuses on overall event concepts, operational systems, mentoring, business planning and scare attraction design. Scream Park entertainments Ltd supports and advises on scare actor recruitment, training and management. FunFear Ltd design and install scare attraction technical solutions, from lighting, power, attraction safety through to sound.
Stuart has spoken widely at conferences and seminars in the US, Canada and the UK on Agritainment, Agri-Tourism and seasonal attractions, especially focused on the UK Scare attractions industry and the Tulleys Farm Halloween Shocktober Fest event.
https://www.innovativeleisure.co.uk/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-pickersgill-5a988010/
Phil Pickersgill, MD, Innovative Leisure
Phil has over 35 years’ experience in the leisure and attractions industry and has plenty left to contribute!
With a background in engineering coupled with his in depth knowledge of the industry, he founded Innovative Leisure with a vision to introduce new, adventure related products, from around the world to the UK and European markets.
Phil plays an active role in a number of the trade associations that steer the leisure industry for example: as a Chair of Trade Members (from Jan 2023) and part of the BALPPA Management Committee (British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions) for over 14 years (and a past member of the NFAN Management Committee (National Farm Attractions Network).
Through these groups, and his extensive industry network, he is usually very close to the latest developments, issues and trends in the market.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-adam-goymour-5248832a/
Adam Goymour, MD, Roarr! is one of our previous guests on the podcast.
Check out his previous episode back in 2020 with Kelly Molson.
https://skipthequeue.fm/episodes/adam-goymour
Adam proudly involved in my family owner/operator portfolio of businesses. Which owns and operates
1. The leading day visitor attraction in Norfolk (ROARR!) West of Norwich, where it also hosts (PrimEvil) - Norfolks largest scare experience event. (UK’s Best Scream Park 🏆🥇 2024 and Visit Englands Bronze 🥉 Best Large Visitor Attraction Winner 2024)
2. A property and land owner business (Goymour Properties Limited) in Norfolk and Suffolk
3. A family-friendly countryside camping, glamping and caravan park in Banham, Norfolk (Applewood Countryside Park) Visit East of Englands Best Camping, Glamping & Holiday Park 2024 🥇🏆)
4. A wedding venue (Applewood Hall), in Banham, Norfolk
5. A well renowned estate agents based in Bury St.Edmunds, Suffolk (Goymour Homes)
Goymour Properties is the parent company which was Est.1929 and is based in Banham, Norfolk,
Aged 36, I hold a huge drive, aspiration and desire as the 4th generation of the Goymour Family business. To further innovate, enhance and grow the businesses.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/olly-reed/
Olly Reed, Marketing Director, Navigate
Olly loves to talk about himself in the third person (see). Over the last fifteen years, he has built vast experience in tourism and conservation brands from startups, in-house teams, and now, Navigate. Olly is the driving force behind Navigate's growth and supports Navigate's clients in developing their digital presence and solidifying commercial evolution while expanding Navigate's impact in the industry.
Transcription:
Paul Marden: Who doesn't love a trip to see the lambs in spring at their local farm attraction? Well, it turns out lots of people do. Farm attractions are an important part of the visitor economy.
On average, 25 million people visit a farm attraction each year. And These attractions contribute 300 million pounds annually to the rural economy.
Today I'm at the National Farm Attraction Network conference in Blackpool. It's a packed agenda and amazing exhibitors, so join me for some lively chat as we find out more about this vibrant sector.
Welcome to Skip the Queue, the podcast for people working in and working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Paul Marden, and I'm joined today by guests from across the farm attraction sector. First up is Tom Percy.
Tom Pearcy: Yes, I'm Tom Percy. I'm the Controller of Fun at York Maze, and I'm also the chairman, co chairman of nafam, which is the National Farm Attractions Network.
Paul Marden: Tom, we always ask our guests an icebreaker question. So very topical. We're in Blackpool. I'd love to say it is sunny Blackpool. It's also perishingly cold Blackpool. So it was. It was brisk on my walk into the venue this morning. But if you were to have the opportunity to sleep anywhere under the stars on a beach, where in the world would you go?
Tom Pearcy: I've had a good look around Blackpool. I think probably Scarborough. Blackpool is Lancashire. We're gonna get back home into Yorkshire. So the beach in Scarborough after a big night on the bingo.
Paul Marden: I'm such a Southerner. All of these places, they're just up north to me. Is there a big east west divide here?
Tom Pearcy: There is a huge Yorkshire Lancashire thing. A lot of banter. All my friends, with Farm Attractions in Lancashire, we have a lot of exchange of banter.
Paul Marden: Unless you're talking to a Southerner and then you all pile in on us.
Tom Pearcy: Yes, absolutely.
Paul Marden: Tom, tell listeners a little bit about NFAN and the farm attractions sector more broadly.
Tom Pearcy: Okay, yeah. So NFAN stands for National Farm Attractions Network. It is essentially a networking group, trade group, kind of representative body for farmers that have diversified into leisure. I guess one term is quite a broad church. We've got members here with sort of typical. I say typical farm park. Lots of animals, kind of petting stuff. A lot of them have indoor play. That's kind of your classic farm park. And then we've got people like me that I'm a maze operator, so I don't have any animals. You get people that do both. We've got people here with flower patches, sunflower fields, pumpkin fields. I've also got a big Halloween attraction, scare attraction. So we've got kind of a mixture of everything. So.
Paul Marden: But all of it centred around that kind of diversifying the farm's income by bringing in leisure in some sort of
United States
