Estate Matters

In July 2024, Estate Matters celebrates its 1st Birthday!
Listen back to just some of the highlights of the last 12 months.
Guests have provided insights across the rural and development sectors, from farming to journalism, politics to housing.
But the over-arching theme, which has proved of significant interest to an audience in the land-based economy, has been the importance of communications and engagement in virtually every aspect of their professional lives.

Philipp Lukas is Chief Executive Officer of Future Biogas - who develop and operate Anaerobic Digestor (AD) plants in the East of England.
In this episode Philipp discusses the challenges of promoting AD plants, including allaying fears that sites will smell and increase traffic.
He is joined by KOR's Senior Public Affairs Consultant, Andrew Howard who explains the principles of communicating renewable energy projects and how important it is to set the narrative from the outset.

Minette Batters was the President of the National Farmers' Union for 6 years until February 2024.
In her time as President, she navigated the effects of Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the cost of living crisis and worked alongside six Secretaries of State.
In this episode of Estate Matters, recorded at The Royal Bath and West Show, Minette shares some of the challenges she faced including how she overcame her fear of public speaking - something she became known for being particularly skilled at.
She tells podcast host, Anna Byles, about her hopes for the future of land use to ensure food security in the post-BPS era.

Charlie Courtenay is a barrister, parliamentarian and proprietor of the 3,500-acre Powderham Castle Estate in Devon.
In the first episode of Estate Matters to feature an estate owner, Charlie shares his experiences of estate management, alongside his legal work and sitting as a crossbench peer in the House of Lords.

Athwenna Irons, Farming and Rural Affairs Editor of the Western Morning News – the only regional daily newspaper covering South West England – discusses the benefits of achieving coverage in traditional print media.

Athwenna has worked at the paper since graduating from university and has a contacts book which reflects her time in the industry. She has built invaluable relationships with those contacts, who trust her to tell their stories.

Together with KOR’s Senior Content Writer, and former Editor of the WMN, Philip Bowern, the pair discuss the challenges faced by the print sector in an increasingly digital world, and why they think there will always be a place for newspapers.

Moving from journalism into public relations, Philip shares his experience of the need to deliver print-ready copy to busy editors, like Athwenna.