The idea for The Gay Farmer came in the beginning of 2008 after doing my first olive harvest on my mother’s small holding in Moratalla, north west Murcia in Spain.The oil from our harvest tasted wonderful and the idea came to import to the UK and sell to local delis, wholefood and grocery stores. The word spread amongst my friends and, being a gay man, they teased me with, “so what are you now dear, the gay farmer?” The Gay Farmer was born!After 7 harvests with the local Mill and an ever-increasing knowledge of Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil I made the decision, on my birthday, in February 2019 whilst at our farm to switch Olive Mills to one of the finest and oldest family run Organic mills in the country. After 6 generations at Cortijo El Tobazo, since 1850 no less, the family produce one of the finest Multi Award Winning Arbequina & Picual Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oils available, and a Organic Early Harvest Picual Extra Virgin Olive Oil which cannot be beaten on quality or flavour.Their organic and bio diversity principles are second to none, resulting in an Olive forest, where the land is not rotavated, leaving a sea of green goodness for 197 different species of fauna and flora as nature intended. Only the necessary pruning and clearing of vegetation around the trees with as little interfering as possible. Indeed all the cuttings, leaves along with the mill waste and local organic cow dung are composted to achieve a natural organic fertiliser, which is then incorporated into the olive grove.The Olive Mill is situated at the centre of a 1500-acre estate, ensuring the olives are from tree to press in less than 3 hours to limit oxidization. This preserve maximum health benefits and flavour.So that is the story so far, all that is left to say is “Enjoy”, The Gay Farmer, Multi Award Winning Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oils at their finest and as they should be, whilst caring and respecting this beautiful planet we live on for generations to come…

o Meet and great.o Managing the wait list.o Customer service.o Opening and closing.o Stocktaking, reconciliation and ordering.o Training and delegation.o Cashing up and EOD reports.

o Took over a failing restaurant and turned it around to be one of the cities most loved.o Worked in cooperation with my Restaurant Manager and Head Chef, and overall staff of 15+.o Redesigned the overall appearance and layout in order to give maximum visual impact.o Increased sales by moving from a 45-seat restaurant to 70 seats, without compromising on the appearance of overall space.o Prioritized new equipment purchases in order to dramatically increase production and profit.

o Managed a successful, long established vegetarian restaurant in the heart of Brighton’s south lanes.o Took the brand to new heights by improving ambience, quality and professionalism, and thereby increasing profit.o Exceeded performance targets.o Managed a team of 20+: HR, training, delegation, rotas, team building and discipline.o Budgetary responsibilities including bookkeeping and cash handling.o Restaurant environment and visual style. o Developed a customer database and increased repeat visits and profit through marketing and promotions.

o Progressed from sales assistant to duty manager at the Covent Garden store within 3 months.o Managed and launched Brighton store within a year, took on Area Manager and Head Buyer responsibility in 2002 for Covent Garden, Camden, Brighton and the online store.o Designed own lines from vintage collections using current fashion colors and fabrics resulting in top ten sales positions throughout the year. Lines often available the following season at the G.D.S. International shoe fair, twice yearly in Düsseldorf and internal shoe fairs at Head Office Wiesbaden.o Visual merchandising.o Merchandising.o Stocktaking. o Store environment.o Working in cooperation with, informing and directing store managers.

o Progressed from sales assistant to Trainee Manager within 2 months.o One of my first tasks was to organize and redesign the very small stockroom, enabling a speedier collection of stock and unpacking of deliveries.o Pied a Terre gave me the opportunity to enter the retail sector after many years in hospitality.o Within weeks I constantly exceeded my sales targets and was at the top of the sales leader board.o Pied a Terre offered a well thought out training program, which I took full use of enhancing my performance.