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Charles
Warren comes from a farming family. His father
still farms near Horsham in Sussex and on the Hebridian
island of Islay
(Coull Farm). The two farms cover 1,800
acres. He has had a life-long interest and
commitment to farming, wildlife and the countryside and
has run a number of businesses with close sector
involvement in the rural sector.
Charles
Warren's experience and skills will be a major
contributor to the overall success of this restoration
project. He first started his career in 1972 working on
the family farm for eight years. Following this he
traveled to the USA, and qualified as a Drilling Fluids
Engineer (DFE) with Dresser Industries of Houston, Texas
(1979-80. Charles also worked in Libya for
several years as a DFE.
Charles
Warren - Sportsman
In
1982 Charles returned to England and established a
timber broking business throughout the south-east, which
ran successfully until 1990. Concurrent with the
timber business, he bought a derelict farm near
Heathfield, which was being used as a scrap yard.
He cleared the scrapyard, brought the land back into
rough pasture and built a farm house named Firlands
Farm for the purpose of running a game farm which he
had already established at Horsham. The County
Estates Surveyor, (instructed by Wealden District
Council) concluded that this was a financially viable
business - thus the house was necessary for the success
of the enterprise.
From
about 1991 until 1998 he established and operated
Blairfindy Sporting Lodge in Scotland (now Glenlivet
House) prior to returning
to Sussex and the restoration of Twissells Mill.
STRATEGY
Charles
Warren's marketing strategy for the rural conferences is
based on his knowledge and relationship with businesses
in the local area. He has developed good
connections with a range of businesses within a 40 mile
radius of Twissells Mill and number of whom will be
committing to using the conference facilities. He
is confident that the target of 36 conferences for 2005
will be met, increasing to an average of 48 per annum.
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