At a time of life when the average person thinks about slowing down, Jon Hackett of Brooklands Farm retired from a successful career in the mortgage and investment business for a life on the land.

Jon’s interest in farming grew from spending his leisure time on the land and his love of the countryside pursuits of hunting and shooting. When owning his own business in Jersey allowed him to work the hours he pleased, he would spend four days in the office in St Helier and one each week, indulging his passion for animal husbandry by working on a farm in St Peter.

When he retired he began to turn his ‘hobby’ into a full-time business.

Today, more than a decade on, the family business has grown from keeping a few cows into a thriving concern, with Jon’s wife, Jenny, and son, Jono, working alongside him and a professional butcher.

Brooklands Farm is tucked away at the end of Longfield Avenue – a residential estate - off Route des Gènets in St Brelade. However, the tell-tale signs are clearly visible from the main road where pigs and piglets, cattle, poultry, ducks and geese contentedly graze and forage. The ‘farmhouse’ is newly built in the traditional Jersey granite style, overlooking St Brelade’s Bay where the basement is dedicated to a butchery, commercial kitchen and production area and chilled storage.

Jon’s business motto is if anyone sees that one of animals looks unhappy they can have it! He has never had to give one away.