Originally from the Midlands, I began in land agency but then went to Cirencester Agricultural College and emerged with an HND in Agriculture (and a wife and imminent 1st child!). I spent a couple of years milking cows before I was asked back to the farm where I had lived as a student to become Arable and Young Stock Manager on an 18 month contract. At the end of this I applied for, and much to my surprise got, the Manager-ship of a large dairy and hill estate in the West of Scotland.
In 1987 we managed to purchase a small holding at Bridge of Cally. We had an interest in organics and entered conversion almost immediately. At the time this was regarded as very odd indeed, but this was a time of a "false dawn" in organic fortunes. Fairly quickly we came to enjoy 17+% bank interest rates which meant searching for additional sources of income! I eventually joined Glenside Organics of Stirling as a Sales Agent. I became a Managing Agent responsible for the North and East of Scotland and remained active with the company for about 12 years. During this time I let out the farm grazing and was a SOPA licensee.
Just to show how one thing can lead to another, when the current upturn in organics began I started an organic consultancy offering conversion advice and land management services, and through this I came to join the Soil Association Certification as a contracted inspector in 2004, working throughout Scotland. This began to involve doing QMS inspections which then lead to SOPA inspections in 2008. In 2009 I began carrying out Freedom Food audits located between Laurencekirk and Stranraer. Learning about the large scale of free-range laying hens and pullet rearing from a standing start, and now inspecting probably two-thirds of the Freedom Food registered laying hen and pullet rearing establishments in Scotland is a pretty scarey thought! Alternatvely: learning that I had Type 1 diabetes about 7 years ago, but that has turned out to be more of a hassle than a tragedy - just don't ask me to unload by hand an artic load of fertiliser bags on my own as had been know in my youth!
For over 6 years I've been married to Dawn who runs the old pupils association for Fettes College, which usually means us attending a dinner somewhere in the country about once a month and once a year somewhere in Europe - last year it was in Spain and before that in Greece. This year is a bit nearer home in Jersey! I live in Edinburgh during the week and return to the farm most weekends. I have 2 daughters and a son from my first marriage. Many of you may have seen or followed the exploits of my son Mark, who cycled around the world in a record-breaking 195 days. As far as Mark goes you can learn quite a lot re dates and expeditions on his website: www.markbeaumontonline.com . It is not quite up to date, as he has now finished his second book on his cycle of the length of the Americas and its associated BBC documentary, which is due for publication on May 12th. His next BBC expedition and documentary is currently under official wraps but will be taking place this summer and will not be on a bike! He is now a well established and popular speaker at corporate events and schools. He has just returned from speaking engagements in New York, Hong Kong and Kuwait. Earlier this year he was voted the Glenfiddich Scot of the Year, having won the sports award at the same ceremony the previous year - beating Chris Hoy!