We have worked with M&S since 2011, supporting them with their farming communication and engagement programmes. This has included direct farmer communication, raising industry awareness, the development of an innovative education programme and the implementation of an annual awards programme.
M&S has a reputation for excellence in the food industry and it is proud to source raw materials from a group of dedicated M&S Select Farmers that it knows and trusts.
To help pay tribute to these producers, M&S runs an annual Farming for the Future Award programme, highlighting the best of the best in its producer pool across four different award categories. We help oversee this whole awards process; from collecting entries to compiling case studies on award finalists, before organising the regional awards ceremonies at key national agricultural shows across the UK.
The M&S Farming for the Future Awards is split across three regions - Scotland, England & Wales and Ireland - so for a few of months every year, we find ourselves chatting on the phone or visiting a whole host of producers across the UK. One day it could be a mussel grower in Orkney, the next a beef producer in the heart of the Brecon Beacons. We thrive on the challenge that this diversity creates and have been successful in helping to generate extensive local press coverage surrounding the awards since they started nearly a decade ago.
