Ones to Watch: Eleanor Thatcher

As part of Family Business Week 2023 we are profiling a series of future family business leaders who are ‘Ones to Watch’.

Eleanor Thatcher

Cider Maker, Thatchers

Eleanor Thatcher certainly knows her apples, having grown up at Myrtle Farm, at the heart of the family business.  But as the fifth-generation Cider Maker has found, it’s valuable to step outside the business to get a wider perspective.

For Eleanor, expanding her horizons entailed living for a while in Australia, where she worked for another family business – a wine maker. There, she enhanced her understanding of the fermentation process (“I have a passion for cider making - I love that part of the business”). She has also worked for a family-owned dairy business, where she got to experience family business management in a whole new way.

Now back in the UK and working in her family’s business in Somerset, she continues to push herself to keep learning. While Eleanor spends half of her time making cider, she spends the other half talking to customers to find out what they want. “I love the balance – you get to see what our customers want and what they like to drink. That really helps when you’re doing new things and setting the direction for the future.”

A key to Eleanor’s professional growth has been tapping into the wisdom of two mentors, one being from outside the business, who helped her to think through what she needed to know and where she was trying to go. “You can get a really challenging perspective. That’s the same with non-executive directors… Challenge is really important.”

Stepping outside the business can also feed innovation, a critical ingredient for any business, and especially one marketing to a demanding public, and Thatchers continues to introduce new ciders to the market.

Blending the old with the new is critical: “In terms of cider making, we still use our 150-year-old giant oak vats. We know they’re an important part of cider making but we also move forward with modern technology in terms of apple processing and, more recently, bringing in sustainable energy with the use of solar panels. All of our electricity also comes from renewable sources.”

Ultimately, however, “it’s all about quality for us”. So, Thatchers is trialling the use of new varieties of apples that deal better with an increasingly warm and wet climate.

As farmers, thinking about the environment and how to foster the sustainability of the earth it is second nature. So, Thatchers is exploring new approaches to regenerative farming, fostering biodiversity, and improving soil health. It’s about “putting in more than we take out”.

And as a family business, “You’re thinking about the next generation all the time” Eleanor says, referring not just to family members but all employees: the next generation of Thatchers. “Investing time in people is important. We really believe in nurturing the next generation of talent.”

In an industry where apprentices typically make up 5% of the workforce, about 20% of Thatchers employees are apprentices, working in a range of roles across the business. “Supporting the next generation of employees is really important – giving opportunities to people who show talent and want to work hard” Eleanor says. “To see how people are developing during their apprenticeship is amazing!”

As Eleanor continues to learn more about the business, she is finding it important to speak with others in her age group who work in other family businesses. “It’s nice to be able to talk through what does or doesn’t work and get ideas…. Which Family Business UK helps with a lot! Hearing stories of others in family businesses at different stages in their career provides some insight into what’s potentially coming for me!”

Though Eleanor’s personal passion is the science of fermentation, she’s been working in various areas of the business to get a full understanding. “I’ve got so much to learn, which is really exciting. I’m mainly thinking about what the next generation of customers are going to want to drink and what we can do to meet their aspirations while ensuring we continue to be even more sustainable than we are now.”

All the while she keeps in mind some words of advice from her father: “You won’t be judged on what you do, but on what the next generation does.”

Read more from about our ‘Ones to Watch’ here.