The Scottish Mail on Sunday

‘Black Farmer’ founder’s pricey bid to enter politics It cost me £150,000 to campaign to be a Tory MP. . . and I lost it all

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Q What did your parents teach you about money? A TO be careful with it. They were frightened of money because they never had it. Both worked in factories in Birmingham and I was the eldest boy of nine children. We lived in a small, terraced house and money was tight. The things my friends would have as normal we just did not have – birthday and Christmas presents, even new clothes. We all wore hand-me-downs.

We always had enough food – my mother made a little go a long way and nothing was ever wasted. But there were no indulgence­s, not even ice creams from the ice cream van. It was a struggle. Q What was the first paid work you ever did? A I WAS a paperboy at age 11. I did two morning rounds and an evening one every weekday, plus I delivered for a couple of hours each morning at the weekends. I was paid 2 shillings and sixpence a week (12.5p) and I was allowed to keep the money I earned. That was really nice, having my own money. Q Have you ever struggled to make ends meet? A OH yes, for most of my life. The worst time was when I was 19. I got kicked out of the army for challengin­g orders. Back then, if you were a black guy with attitude, you got your head kicked in.

I struggled to get another job. I would walk four or five miles to a job interview because I could not afford the bus fare. Often, the moment the employer saw me, they would say the job had gone. Those were the days when your colour determined whether you got employment or not. I struggled to get by on benefits and often went hungry. I eventually got work washing up in a kitchen. Q Have you ever been paid silly money? A YES. I can get paid upwards of £5,000 for an after-dinner speech which lasts no more than 45 minutes. Q What was the best year of your financial life? A IT was 2007 when I launched the Black Farmer brand. We could not take money fast enough and we kept running out of produce. I earned a six-figure sum that year. Q What is the most expensive thing you have bought for fun? A IT was a tailor-made matador’s jacket for £5,000. I bought it in Seville, Spain – a beautiful garment with jewels. I wear it on special occasions, otherwise I keep it on a mannequin in my flat. Q What is your biggest money mistake? A RUNNING for election as a Conservati­ve MP for Chippenham in Wiltshire. It cost a lot of money – probably £150,000 to campaign over four years. Plus I bought a £200,000 two-bedroom flat in the constituen­cy. I have still got the property, but otherwise I have nothing to show for that decision. Q And your best money decision? A SETTING up Black Farmer. I used to run a marketing agency, but I loved working on my family’s allotment as a kid and always wanted to buy a farm. So one day, about 20 years ago, I decided to do it.

At the time, a lot of farmers were selling up and land was relatively cheap. I used the money I got from my marketing agency to buy 30 acres of cattle grazing land on the borders of Devon and Cornwall for £250,000 and invested everything else I had – probably another £250,000 – creating the brand.

I had a unique idea: I realised there were a lot of people who were wheat intolerant and a lot of sausages at the time contained wheat. Black Farmer was the first brand to sell sausages without wheat. Today, I would estimate the brand is worth about £15million. Q Do you save into a pension or invest in the stock market? A I SAVE into a pension but I do not invest in the stock market. My rule is: do not invest in something you do not understand. I think that is a bit like gambling. It does not float my boat. I only started saving into a pension when autoenrolm­ent came in. I put the minimum in, not a vast amount. I prefer to invest in Black Farmer. Q Do you own any property? A YES. Apart from the flat in Chippenham, I live in a five-bedroom house on the farm, worth around £1.7million. It has spectacula­r views of the countrysid­e. Q What is the one luxury you treat yourself to? A I GET my clothes dry cleaned and ironed every week – and parcelled up. So it is like I am opening a brand new item of clothing every time I decide to wear something. I am not sure how much it costs, probably about £30 a week. Q If you were Chancellor, what is the first thing you would do? A I WOULD offer big tax breaks to small companies. I think the taxes that small businesses have to pay should be reduced. Q What is your number one financial priority? A TO make sure my three children have it easier than I did. I want to be able to help them financiall­y whenever they need me to.

 ??  ?? CLEAN CUT: Wilfred EmmanuelJo­nes spends £30 a week having his clothes dry-cleaned
CLEAN CUT: Wilfred EmmanuelJo­nes spends £30 a week having his clothes dry-cleaned

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