Welbeck Farm Shop and Harley Cafe in running for the best in the UK

A popular Nottinghamshire farm shop and cafe have made the finals of a national competition. The Welbeck Farm Shop has made the best large farm shop in the UK shortlist, while the Harley Cafe is hoping to lift the crown for the best cafe at the Farm Retail Awards.

The winners will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony in March 2025 in Birmingham. The farm shop and cafe sit at the heart of a vibrant artisan food community on the Welbeck Estate near Worksop. Since opening in 2006, Welbeck Farm Shop has earned a reputation for being one of the region's best farm shops.

It focuses on low food miles, drawing on a rich artisan food tradition. Meat is sourced from the local area, including from the Welbeck Estate, where rare breed livestock graze historic pastures. Meats are cured in-store by the award-winning butchery team. The estate’s raw milk is also on sale, delivered fresh from the dairy every morning. It’s the same milk in the internationally acclaimed Stichelton blue cheese sold on the counter.

Managed by the Welbeck Farm Shop, the Harley Cafe takes pride in serving the best local ingredients, including produce from across the Welbeck Estate, with bread from the Welbeck Bakehouse, meat from the shop’s award-winning butchery, and the famous blue cheese from Stichelton Dairy.

Situated in the Courtyard at Welbeck, the cafe serves homemade, seasonal breakfast and lunch menus by head chef James Armstrong, including cakes, scones, sandwiches and salads, plus favourites such as the lamb shawarma and the garden bhaji, made with fresh vegetables from the estate’s Walled Garden.

Oliver Stubbins, Welbeck Farm Shop manager, said: "It is a real honour to be recognised once again by the Farm Retail Association. In their 2024 awards we were thrilled to be announced as the UK Farm Butcher of the Year, so it’s brilliant to now be in the running for two national awards for 2025. Every element of the business, and every colleague’s contribution has been recognised as being amongst the best of the best.”