He says no about two thirds of the time.
A full day, run by Kaleb Cooper, doing actual farm work to his standard rather than to yours. It is the top of the away-day range at fifteen thousand pounds and it is the hardest thing on this site to book, because the person it depends on has a farm to run.
What the day is.
Nine until five, outside, doing work that needs doing, being told plainly and repeatedly that you are doing it wrong. There is no team-building framework, no facilitator and no flip chart. There is a job, a standard, and a running commentary.
Groups find the first two hours funny and the next two hours humbling. The useful part happens somewhere around three in the afternoon, when a group that has been told six times to do something properly finally does it properly and can see the difference from twenty yards away.
It is not a novelty booking, or rather it is one and the people who book it as one have the worst day.
The specification.
The day
- Price
- £15,000For up to 25 people. Above that it does not work and we say no
- Hours
- 09:00 to 17:00And it runs to five whatever the weather does
- Group size
- 8 to 25Twelve to sixteen is the number that works best
- Location
- On the estate, outsideThere is no indoor version of this
- Includes
- Lunch, kit, briefings, coverAnd a written account afterwards if you want one
The odds
- Enquiries accepted
- About one in threeIt is his diary and his decision
- Runs a year
- 6 to 10Never in March, April, September or October
- Notice needed
- 3 months minimumAnd it can still move for weather or for a crop
- Cancelled by us
- Twice in four yearsBoth for drilling weather, both refunded in full
What it is not
- A meet and greet
- NoThere are no photographs at the start and it is not that kind of day
- A television experience
- NoNo cameras, ours or yours, without agreement in advance
- Guaranteed
- NoIf he cannot do it, the whole booking moves or is refunded
This is a demonstration build. Nothing here books anything, no deposit is taken and no card details are collected at any point. Prices are indicative and are published so the arithmetic can be argued with.
Why he says no so often, and why we do not push him.
-
He has a farm to run and a contracting business besides.
The days that work for a corporate group — dry, mild, midweek — are exactly the days that work for drilling, rolling, spraying and everything else. A bootcamp in the third week of September costs a working day at the worst possible moment.
Fifteen thousand pounds is a great deal of money and it is not more valuable than getting a crop in.
The days that suit a corporate diary are the days that suit a drill.
-
And a reluctant version of this day would be a bad one.
The entire value of the thing is that the person running it means it. A version where he has been talked into it by a booking system is worse than not offering it, and it would be obvious inside twenty minutes.
So the answer goes to him, he answers, and we relay it. There is no escalation and no second ask.
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Which makes it genuinely scarce rather than artificially scarce.
Most premium experiences are rationed by price. This one is rationed by whether a man who farms for a living can spare a Tuesday in June, which is a considerably more honest limit and a much more annoying one.
What happens to your enquiry.
| Stage | Timing | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| You enquire with three possible dates | Day one | Not one date. Three, and none of them in harvest |
| We check them against the farm diary | Within a week | About half of enquiries lose all three here |
| It goes to him | Within two weeks | One question, three dates, yes or no |
| He answers | When he answers | Roughly one in three is a yes |
| We confirm, or we offer an alternative | Same week | The alternative is a normal away-day, which is a good day |
| It can still move | Up to the week before | For weather or a crop. Twice in four years, both refunded |
If you are going to do a job, do it properly. If you are not going to do it properly, do not do it, and do not ask me to look at it. Kaleb Cooper, approximately, several times a day
The bootcamp, at a glance.
£15,000
Up to 25 people, all in.
8 to 25
Twelve to sixteen is the sweet spot.
One in three
That is the acceptance rate, and it is his.
Three months notice
And it can still move for a crop.
Build the ordinary version.
Which is a genuinely good day and available considerably more often.
