With his wife, Yvonne, Derek owned and ran Hayloft Plants, based on the River Avon flood plain at Pensham.
The business is a multi-channel retailer and grower of plants. He is also Chair of the British Ornamentals Association (BOA).
Varied career
Derek attended college at Sutton Bonington before embarking on a varied career encompassing working with Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire farmers at ICI before travelling the world and returning to work for Northwest Securities, then growing ornamental young plants for national distribution with two college friends and subsequently setting up on his own.
Meanwhile, Yvonne had started Hayloft Plants, growing plug plants and selling directly to consumers, at the kitchen table.
The business bloomed from these humble beginnings and when Derek joined, they branched out into the world of selling plants via TV shopping channel QVC, with Derek presenting, and then via catalogues, national newspapers and the internet.
Brexit hit the business hard, but when the Covid pandemic struck sales doubled, leading to investment in more nurseries, packing lines, extending the glasshouses, a big yard and a warehouse.
In 2024, Derek and Yvonne sold the assets to a competitor. They still own three nurseries and have converted a barn into holiday lets.
“I enjoy being involved in the NFU and representing farmers and horticultural growers in this part of the world.”
Derek Jarman
“I have spent quite a bit of time learning the process of lobbying, particularly on the Seasonal Workers Scheme when we persuaded the government to include ornamental nurseries. I believe we now have to focus agriculture back to food – it’s become a bit lost among the SFI, environmental schemes, and energy.
“We need to get back to farms producing food, with everything else becoming secondary to that. I fear it will require a world shock for people to realise that food needs to be grown and produced locally.
“I also obviously come to the county chair role with a horticultural slant – we need to keep labour and seasonal workers and get rid of bureaucracy to help boost the economy.”