Bertie Matthews, an eighth-generation owner, talks to BusinessLive about bringing his family business back from the brink and his hopes for regenerative farming in Britain
Inside a century-old red-brick mill deep in the heart of the Cotswolds, machines dating back to the 1960s thrum as they grind wheat into flour. “They still work perfectly well,” Bertie Matthews shouts enthusiastically over the noise, before leading me up another set of steep wooden stairs where more machines – and many newer ones – pound and sift grain, causing a fine dust to linger in the air.
Bertie, who is the eighth generation to take over the family business – and is also a director – will be spending his weekend working a shift on the mill floor. “The team is fantastic, but people need time off and sometimes I need to step in and do that and I’m very happy to,” he tells me cheerily. “Today is actually my day off.”
But running a mill, which has one of the largest ranges of speciality flours in the UK, was not always part of his career plan.
The Matthews family have farmed and milled in the Cotswolds since 1820 and the Shipton Under Wychwood business was run by Bertie’s father – an organic flour pioneer – for 50 years until 2020 when he retired and moved to New Zealand.
The company mills more than 500,000 bags of flour for home baking every year and a million sacks for independent artisan bakeries and bakery brands.
As the fifth of eight children, Bertie always assumed an older sibling would get involved with the business and spent the first years of his career in sales and advertising in London and New York, while also signing up as an army reservist in the Honourable Artillery Company.
But everything changed in 2017 when a financial crisis hit Matthews Cotswold Flour and it was forced to enter a creditors voluntary arrangement.
“When I came back [into the business] it was just because I was at that age where I didn’t have a mortgage and didn’t have kids. It was a very, very difficult time. We couldn’t fulfil products, we couldn’t pay the bills, nobody would give us any credit.”
Bertie and his father were told that although the business was not going into administration they had just a 10 per cent chance of turning it around.
Bertie was appointed a director, aged just 27, and admits he had “minimal skill” on the operational side of running a business, but he had to “stop the rot”.
The workforce was reduced from 70 people to just 30 and he put together a strategy, focusing on cutting costs.
“It took three years of borderline survival,” he admits. “We almost went into administration three or four times. It was horrific.
“And it’s such a shame for my dad because he grew the business 10 times over from 1999 when he took over.”
But Bertie admits the company did not have good “financial visibility” before the crisis hit, and on joining the business “became obsessed” with the numbers.
As a mill producing around 14,000 tonnes of flour a year, it was one of the UK’s smallest and it needed a new strategy.
“Our market is far more suited to the small artisan bakery and to the home baker who wants to try out lots of stuff, versus selling a big tanker of plain flour to a large bakery paying a low price,” he said.
‘All businesses need to get lucky’
Bertie decided the business needed to start selling more through its website; a move that massively paid off as the world shut down in the pandemic.
“When Covid came, sales went berserk,” he recalls. “Everyone wanted to buy flour, and the artisan bakeries were having a roaring trade which was great for us.
“We did the right things and we worked hard and smart but you know, at the end of the day, all businesses need to get lucky. And we got bloody lucky.”
Sales in the pandemic soared back into the millions and the trajectory continued afterwards.
Today, Matthew Cotswold Flour is sold in Tesco, Waitrose and Co-op. It is also available in farm shops and is sold direct to bakeries around the country.
The brand’s profile was also raised after featuring on popular Amazon series Clarkson’s Farm.
“Jeremy [Clarkson] has lived in the area for 50 years and knows dad,” he said. “I reminded him that in 2002 he came to a dinner party and broke a chair. He couldn’t believe I remembered it.
“When they did the first show, because of Covid, it was mainly on the farm but one of the few scenes elsewhere was when Jeremy and Charlie came to our mill as we are the local millers.
“Since that point we have encouraged [Jeremy Clarkson] to grow durum wheat and spelt like we would with any other farm. We have a really good connection and he is a great advocate for farming.”
When it comes to farming practices – and since the business achieved its turnaround – Bertie has decided he wants to do something to make a “real tangible impact” to support growers.
An old family friend introduced him to the idea of ‘regenerative farming’ – an approach that works in balance with nature to boost soil health and biodiversity at the same time.
“You’re working with nature, not against it,” Bertie explains.
Matthews Cotswold Flour works with around 150 farms, of which just 12 currently use this model, but Bertie is hoping to increase the number over the next five years.
“Our objective by 2030 is to have the majority of our flour tonnage from regenerative farms.”
Bertie believes the shift to regenerative farming – an approach that is still relatively niche – would help address Britain’s food security risks.
“The climate is going to change whether we like it or not. It’s going to rain more in the winter in this country and be hotter in the summer, and we know what effect that has on food production. Wheat washes away, food washes away.
“We need to produce enough food, it needs to be nutritious and it needs to be affordable. But we need to do it in a way that regenerates our land rather than destroys it.
“The problem is, is that if given a choice – and we all get given that choice every time we walk into a supermarket – do you want a pound in your pocket today?”
He says the business has been impacted by the cost-of-living crisis, but as a more expensive brand, it’s about buying into an idea “that’s helping with the soils and farming”.
Looking ahead, his vision over the next three-to-five years is to build a “really interactive” baking space where people can learn about farming, flour milling and baking.
“We want to drive that education story and we want to create a space people can come to, otherwise there is no point being in here the Cotswolds,” he adds.
And does he bake himself?
“Yes, just not very well. But it’s great to bake. I’ve got quite good access to flour.”
