The Clarkson’s Farm star, 65, has opened up about his big business venture away from the farm – but confessed he often has no idea what’s going on when he’s in meetings
Jeremy Clarkson has candidly admitted “I don’t know what I’m talking about” when discussing business matters.
The 65 year old star of Clarkson’s Farm revealed his role on the board of Hawkstone Lager, where he holds the position of largest shareholder. The company, which began by turning his barley into lager, now extends this service to numerous other British farmers.
In his column for the Sunday Times, Jeremy expressed his confusion: “The trouble is, I don’t really know what I’m talking about. And to make sure I remain in the dark, businesspeople have invented a language that only they understand.”
He continued: “As the biggest shareholder, I sit on the board of Hawkstone, which is a company that turns my barley into lager. It’s become quite successful and now turns lots of British’ farmers barley into lager.”
Clarkson explained the necessity of having professional businesspeople run the company, saying: “That means it needs to run by professional businesspeople, and that in turn means that when I’m sitting in a board meeting, I understand about one word in 17”
Hawkstone Lager, which uses barley from Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm featured on the Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm, is brewed at Hawkstone Brewery near Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire.
Launched in 2021, Hawkstone Lager made its supermarket debut last year with Waitrose being the first British chain to stock it.
Despite his success, the former Top Gear host confessed to being baffled by certain aspects of the business, including moments of “sudden burst of excitement” that leave him puzzled.
He also admitted that he’s baffled by the decision-making process behind the company’s range of products, revealing: “We started with a beer that everyone liked. So we brought out another one and then another, and then a stout.
“And occasionally I’d put my hand up in the meeting and ask why we were doing this. It just seemed to me like we were competing with ourselves.”
The TV presenter has recently discussed the serious challenges facing his Diddly Squat Farm due to increasingly severe hot and dry conditions affecting agriculture.
Expressing concerns about climate unpredictability, he penned in The Times: “It used to be reasonably predictable, but it just isn’t anymore. In March Diddly Squat had no rain at all. Not even a drop. In April we got 20mm, which in old money is bugger all.
“And so far in May we’ve had 4mm. You couldn’t keep a window box going with a dribble like that. It’s been drier than it was in 1976. And while we do have about thirty springs on the farm, they’re all in the wrong place. So my onions and my beetroots are just sitting in the dust.”
Jeremy expressed these sentiments before the UK witnessed temperature surges over 30C once again.
