Cambridge-based Ingham Pinnock Associates (IPA) has been working with the Heydon Estate to prepare a strategy for its future.
The roots of the Estate date back to the 15th century; today it is one of the most beautiful and enigmatic country estates in Norfolk and indeed England.
The Heydon Estate features a Grade I Elizabethan hall
Situated about five miles north of Reepham, the Heydon Estate comprises a Grade I Elizabethan hall, formal Grade II* registered parkland and a timeless village that remains in the ownership of the Estate, as well as a range of other historic buildings and landscapes. The Estate remains deeply connected with agriculture and the environment with a large farm growing a mix of crops and livestock.
IPA prepared the recent Reepham Economic Strategy. As economic development and regeneration consultants, they worked directly with the principal of the Estate, Rhona Bulwer-Long, to help define a vision for Heydon’s future and established a number of strategic objectives and key projects, which provide a balanced mix of heritage conservation, environmental improvement and the reuse of redundant buildings.
The projects were designed specifically to create a series of self-funding phases, where the first phase could help to facilitate the second and third phases, and combined they would help to generate a lasting and sustainable mix of income streams.
Mrs Bulwer-Long explained: “For 500 years Heydon has relied on farming and property management to generate income for its maintenance. Following the early deaths of two principals, the estate finds itself facing critical financial obligations, which threaten its very existence. Heydon is therefore at a pivotal point in its history and needs to adapt to the 21st century and adopt a bold commercial strategy in order to survive.
“I was introduced to Ingham Pinnock by English Heritage. Ross [Ingham] and Kate [Pinnock] were quickly able to understand the unique and complex challenges that we face and to assimilate large amounts of information in a specialist sector.
“They reviewed and considered a vast number of different reports and opinions and have worked with the estate’s stakeholders to distil and describe a viable business strategy. Their knowledge of potential funding sources and their business expertise has been crucial in securing the support of trustees, banks, government agencies and statutory authorities.
“It has been both a pleasure and a relief to work with Ingham Pinnock to agree a clear and commercial plan of action which addresses the core issues that we face and is both deliverable and sensitive to Heydon’s history.”
