A YOUNG entrepreneur who runs a unique restaurant in a converted pigsty on his family’s country estate on the Worcestershire and Herefordshire borders has received a newly launched national award.

Joe Evans, who is the driving force behind Green Cow Kitchens at Whitbourne, near Bromyard, has been crowned the first Young Agricultural Entrepreneur of the Year – a new accolade supported by events venue Three Counties Showground, law firm Harrison Clark Rickerbys and property consultants Bruton Knowles.

Joe left a career in banking, returning to Herefordshire in 2011 to take over the running of the Whitbourne estate from his father, and decided to follow his ambition to establish a high quality restaurant.

Green Cows Kitchens - using meat and game produced on the estate - started as a pop-up kitchen and has grown into one of the top three rated restaurants in the county.

As many ingredients as possible are produced on Whitbourne Estate and these include organic beef, Lleyn lamb, traditional breed pigs and free range eggs while the Whitbourne Estate Shoot provides pheasant, partridge, duck and wild venison all of which are carefully butchered and prepared by the estate gamekeeper and head chef.

The restaurant is open to the public on Friday and Saturday evenings with a set menu and also available for private events. The head chef Mickey Provis will also cater for vegetarians, pescatarians, coeliacs and diabetics.

The award aims to acknowledge dedication, hard work and innovative thinking of young agricultural entrepreneurs and the five finalists came from Herefordshire, Wiltshire, South Wales and Worcestershire.

Joe said: “To be chosen as the winner against such strong competition is a real thrill. To have our ‘posh pigsty project’ recognised by a national award is the most fantastic validation of the efforts of the entire team and it couldn’t have come at a better time. We are going to invest half of the money in new equipment for the kitchen, and the other half in upskilling our front of house team, myself included, plus marketing.”

Chris Eldridge, Marketing Director at Bruton Knowles, said: "It is great to see so many young entrepreneurs passionate about what they do and willing to share their experiences and ideas.”

Mary Wathen, partner in the Agricultural and Rural Affairs team at Harrison Clark Rickerbys and one of the driving forces behind the award, said: “We wanted to recognise young people and young businesses in agriculture for all of their hard work and innovation. We hope that this award will grow and encourage other young entrepreneurs to showcase their business. These young people and businesses are all amazing and everyone in the rural community needs to promote and support them and others like them wherever possible”.

Ken Nottage, chief executive officer at the Three Counties Agricultural Society, said: “The entries showed an exciting range of business ideas, from diversification of existing businesses, to creation of new businesses which satisfy a demand in the market. We look forward to seeing this award progress from strength to strength.”