Nominee Summary
The Free Company is an organic mixed regenerative farm and restaurant at the foot of the Pentland Hills. It is a centre for learning and a working model for sustainable food and hospitality — combining organic farming, ethical employment and community engagement in one integrated system. Rooted in circular systems, it aims to build a resilient future for food and work. The team grows fruit, vegetables and native-breed livestock, serves it in their farm-to-table restaurant, and delivers it via a veg box scheme and farm shop. The restaurant connects customers to provenance, sustainability and homegrown produce.
What makes your nominee stand out?
The Free Company stands out for its bold, purpose-led reinvention of what a rural business can be — not just food production or hospitality, but a full food system in one place: regenerative farm, restaurant, education centre, delivery service and local food hub. The business is based at Cockdurno Farm — once a large dairy holding that went bankrupt in the early 2000s and was left to ruin. On the brink of being sold off for housing, the site was instead revived by brothers Angus and Charlie Buchanan-Smith. With no external investment, they have spent the past nine years rebuilding the farm by hand, slowly converting derelict buildings into working infrastructure. The first restaurant operated from a hayloft; the current space is a restored 150-year-old milking byre. Other outbuildings are still being brought back into use today. The team uses as much locally sourced and farm-produced material as possible — including timber milled and prepared on site from wind-felled trees. This resourceful, low-impact approach to construction reflects the business’s wider ethos of circularity and regeneration. The Free Company achieved Soil Association Organic Certification in 2023, following a long and complex conversion from conventional farmland. Its livestock are 100% pasture-fed, and every aspect of the business — from growing to composting to hospitality — is designed to restore ecosystems, shorten supply chains and build community.
Supporting the local community
The Free Company supports its local community through employment, education, collaboration and shared access to good food. The business now employs 30 people across growing, livestock, butchery, food service, education and operations — creating year-round rural jobs in a region where seasonal or insecure work is the norm. All staff are paid at least the Real Living Wage, with opportunities for cross-training, mentoring and funded professional development. Local tradespeople, craftspeople and service providers are used wherever possible — from joinery and fencing to specialist contractors for land and buildings. The Free Company also acts as a local food hub, with its delivery-based farm shop offering milk, eggs, bread and other goods from like-minded local producers. By sourcing and selling collaboratively, the business helps support a more resilient rural economy and create consistent demand for sustainable produce. Beyond its supply chains, The Free Company actively shares its space and knowledge. The farm hosts regular open days, guided walks and school visits, many of them free or heavily subsidised. Over the past year, the team has worked with schools across Edinburgh and hosted more than 60 Scouts from diverse backgrounds, providing hands-on experiences with soil, food and animals. Whether through fair employment, shared infrastructure or direct public engagement, The Free Company works to make rural life not just viable — but nourishing, creative and community-focused.
Maintaining high ethical/environmental standards
The Free Company isn’t just talking about sustainability — it’s living it. In an industry where the language of “local” and “ethical” is often used without substance, this is a business that quietly and consistently practices what it preaches. The farm achieved Soil Association Organic Certification in 2023 after a long conversion from conventional land. All livestock are 100% pasture-fed native breeds. The market garden operates on no-dig principles, and the team produces over 300 tonnes of compost annually — using food waste, sheep wool and plant material to build soil health without imported inputs. Nothing is off-the-shelf. Compost systems, waste infrastructure, even seed compost blends are designed in-house to suit the farm’s own needs and rhythms. Ingredients are used root-to-leaf and nose-to-tail, and anything that can’t be served is returned to the soil or fed to livestock. A closed-loop septic system filters wastewater to drinking quality, and all packaging for deliveries is compostable or recyclable. Ethical standards also shape how the business works with people. All staff are paid the Real Living Wage or above, with access to training, seasonal flexibility, and a culture of mutual respect. The farm’s long-term ambition is not just to be “less bad,” but to actively restore the land, improve livelihoods and inspire others to do the same. Where others rely on marketing, The Free Company builds systems — circular, transparent, and rooted in long-term care for the land and the people who depend on it.
