HM The King meets PCF farmers at Morrisons Head Office
November 8, 2022
His Majesty King Charles III today visited Morrisons Head Office in Bradford to meet people from Morrisons farming, community, sustainability and apprenticeship programmes and hear about their work, and staff and farmers from The Prince’s Countryside Fund (PCF).
His Majesty, accompanied by Morrisons Chief Executive, David Potts CBE, discussed initiatives including Morrisons rare breed programme and recently launched carbon-neutral eggs. His Majesty also heard about the work Morrisons does in the wider community.
David Potts said: “It was a great honour for Morrisons to host His Majesty today. The King is so passionate about British food and farming and it was a great privilege for us to hear his perspectives and for our colleagues to share with him our story as a foodmaker and shopkeeper.
“We were also very pleased to discuss with His Majesty some of our work in farming and sustainability including our partnership with The Prince’s Countryside Fund which makes a real difference to farming families across rural Britain.”
The King also met Keith Halstead, Executive Director of The Prince’s Countryside Fund and Heather Hancock, Chair of the PCF. Founded by HM King Charles III in 2010 while he was The Prince of Wales, The Prince’s Countryside Fund is the only UK-wide charity that empowers family farms and rural communities to ensure their future is made secure.
The King was introduced to John and Louise Hobson, and Susan and John Liddle, farmers who have participated in The Prince’s Farm Resilience Programme, a free programme of business and environmental support run by the PCF.
Keith Halstead said: “His Majesty King Charles III founded The Prince’s Countryside Fund twelve years ago because he understood the strains and stresses of those who live in and care for our precious countryside and he wanted to use the position he held then to help them. His Majesty created a hugely successful charity which empowers family farms and rural communities not just to survive, but thrive. The Prince’s Countryside Fund has accelerated our scale and reach over the last three years to the benefit of ever more rural communities, building on the trust and credibility of the charity, which has always been underpinned by His Majesty’s unparalleled empathy and support for the people of the countryside”.
Morrisons has supported the PCF since 2016 and have contributed nearly £500,000 to the charity to date. In July 2022, the PCF and Morrisons launched their joint ‘Carbon Clarity’ programme, running this year in Cumbria, which will help farmers reduce carbon output and increase carbon capture on their farm, through workshop participation and by creating farm action plans for 20 farming families. At the event, the PCF and Morrisons were pleased to announce their upcoming Carbon Clarity publication, which will help share this information more widely with farmers across the UK.
His Majesty then viewed some of Morrisons Market Street fresh food counters and spoke to some of Morrisons skilled butchers, bakers and fishmongers, as well as visiting the test and development kitchen which included seeing and tasting some locally supplied products.
Before departing, The King unveiled a plaque commemorating the visit. His Majesty King Charles III, said: “It has been a great joy to meet some of you and to see what a remarkable operation is run throughout this nation, with so much trouble taken to train apprentices. To see the kind of things you do in your communities is very special, so I can only thank you all for that and wish you every possible success in the future.”
