The latest generation of the Copas family is successfully taking the family business into completely new areas – including hospitality and property – while continuing its core activity as a luxury turkey producer. Paul Andrews met one of the three sisters leading the charge.
The Copas Partnership is a family-run business, based in Cookham in the heart of the Thames Valley, where the family can be traced back to 1698. Originally a farming enterprise, specialising in the production of luxury Christmas turkeys, the Partnership has diversified in more recent times and is now under the leadership of an all-female team – sisters Tanya, Fenella and Sarah Copas – who have gradually taken over the reins from their father, Tom, as he enters retirement.
As Sarah explains, life in the business is all that she and her sisters have known from a tender age. As a child she doesn’t remember having summer holidays, because there was always work to be done for her father, whether packing turkeys or helping out at events such as the Henley Regatta. One of their properties, Remenham Farm, spans about half the Regatta course and is a prime vantage spot for spectators, allowing the family to offer hospitality, catering and parking services.
Sarah’s parents never assumed that she would go straight into a career in the business. They agreed it would be beneficial for her, after university, to gain experience elsewhere, before committing too a job within the Partnership. Bringing real-world skills and insights to the business also served to enhance her credibility among non-family members of staff. They realised that Sarah was in the business for the long term and took her leadership role very seriously.
Sarah says: “The great thing about working with family is that you all share a vision for the future and when staff can see that you have the company’s best interests at heart they feel more comfortable. By training in your areas of weakness, you soon gain the confidence to take the business by the horns and when its time to take on a leadership role, it’s important that everyone is on board.”
All three sisters have backgrounds in marketing and PR, and the company has been used as a venture capital base for their entrepreneurial and creative talent. The Copas Partnership’s long-running association with Henley Regatta, for instance, has been developed into a full-scale events management operation, with a wide range of facilities offered at Reffenham Farm including hospitality enclosures, bars, trade stands, and boat moorings. Corporate events and hospitality, as well as a growing property portfolio now account for almost 40 per cent of the Partnership’s turnover.
But food production – and in particular the seasonal business of producing 50,000 free range turkeys a year – remains the core activity.
Tom’s wife Brenda acts not only as the face at the gate of Kings Coppice Farm, their family home and company HQ – but also as the creative inspiration within the kitchen. The three sisters and their brother (Tom ‘junior’) are in charge of the day-to-day management of the brand, which now encompasses a range of fine food products that are available all year round, from luxury hampers to barbecue boxes.
As general manager, Sarah works full-time while her sisters, Tanya and Fenella, who both have children, work part-time so they can fit business responsibilities around their families.
Sarah says that being so passionate about your family business can mean that it’s not just a nine-to-five job. She found it took a while to get the balance right and, no matter how hard she worked, was “always wanting to do more,” often at the expense of her home life
However, Sarah does realise the opportunity that a family can business can bring to family members, particularly those who are able to carve out their own role; develop the business in new directions; and create a satisfying and challenging career for themselves – rather than just taking on a business because it has been handed down
She feels it is important to recognise the impact that female leadership and a fresh outlook can have in the running of a family-owned company – as evidenced by the successful diversification and expansion that they’ve overseen.
“The business now is a very different one from when my father was the controlling force. My sisters and I didn’t have the same knowledge and expertise in farming that my father was blessed with but we did bring our own talents to the table,” says Sarah.
The sisters are supported by external consultants, who have helped them professionalise the structure and planning of the business. They also regularly seek guidance from the non-executive member of the board, who has been invaluable throughout the transition. The sisters meet weekly and hold quarterly board meetings when senior management and family members review progress.
The future of the Copas Partnership looks set to be a bright one, with a consensus across the board that the company will remain a family concern, so Sarah and her sisters are looking forward to growth.
Sarah says: “We pride ourselves on being passionate, determined, honest, and we strive to be the best at what we do. Our aim for the future is to continue developing our business to hand down to generations to come.”
Sarah says: “We pride ourselves on being passionate, determined, honest, and we strive to be the best at what we do. Our aim for the future is to continue developing our business to hand down to generations to come.”
For more information please visit www.copas.co.uk
