'The condition of those cattle continues to haunt me...'

EXCLUSIVE by EWAN LAMB

                                                     TRISTAN JEFFREY'S STORY

It was billed as a venture which would change the face of agricultural production with herds of cattle housed in Berwickshire cow palaces producing prime beef while also providing waste material for conversion into fuel.

Business projections produced in the early years forecast profits running into many millions of pounds for hundreds of shareholders who had invested their cash in 'disruptive technology' projects flagged up and fronted by a 'serial entrepreneur'.

But according to the manager of the livestock enterprise being run by Avocet Farms PLC life for his charges was less than palatial with staff begging in vain for their bosses to replenish supplies of feed as the condition of the cattle deteriorated.

However, even as the plight of the Avocet herd was becoming a growing issue for local stockmen a very different story was being told by Parliamentary Review, an influential publication chaired at the time by former Government ministers Lord David Blunkett and Lord Eric Pickles.

Here's what the Review had to say in a paid for article supposedly lauding 'best practice': "Using new building design, Avocet has conceptually the world's foremost and most humane animal housing which allows a working environmental symmetry between man and animal".

Try telling that to Tristan Jeffrey, the man tasked with overseeing the Avocet farming business without any kind of budget and no cash to pay suppliers. He was finally declared surplus to requirements by company chairman Martin Frost in April since when he has been accused of 'possible criminal activity' including allegations of attempted blackmail, theft and destroying CCTV footage.

The Harcarse Hill Avocet 'groundbreaking' operation appears to have been abandoned, and this week Mr Frost again suggested there had been a £4 million robbery involving the contents of the farmhouse with former employees apparently implicated. But the charges libelled by the Avocet chief have been dismissed by all of those named as false and without foundation.

The finger has certainly been pointed at Mr Jeffrey - he has told a shareholders' forum the condition of the Piemontese herd continues to haunt him - in several letters issued to investors by Mr Frost over recent weeks.

In a missive dated July 11th Mr Frost claimed: "For example, although Tristan Jeffrey (a Harcarse Hill worker) has not (as yet) been charged with involvement in the Harcarse Hill Orr theft, coincidentally Tristan unusually put the keys in the stolen vehicles to possibly facilitate wrongful removal, and Tristan removed and attempted to destroy the relevant memories of the CCTV cameras."

According to Mr Frost, collectively Mr Jeffrey, Martin Scott, another former worker at the farm, and ex-Avocet staff member Sarah Shotton had attempted to blackmail their onetime boss "over the state of the Harcarse Hill cattle and their abuse and misuse of the Harcarse Hill fodder units."

Now, Mr Jeffrey like Ms Shotton who featured in these columns yesterday, is taking Avocet and Mr Frost to an employment tribunal to recover unpaid wages and expenses totalling at least £15,000.

He told Not Just Sheep & Rugby: "On the day I was made redundant I was with Martin Scott and there was a debate going on about the cattle I was looking after. We were not happy about the way the animals were being treated and there was no feed. We were having to watch the cattle suffer, but no vet would come out as they knew they would not be paid.

"Martin Frost called me and said he’d sold all of the cattle and I was no longer required. It was a bit of a shock for we’d been told previously we’d be getting new contracts with increased salaries. I told Martin (Scott) who was standing next to me, then I told Sarah Shotton we were all out of a job."

Mr Jeffrey explained that he was due about £15,000 in unpaid wages, not counting any compensation or payments in lieu of notice. He says he was not paid for the last five weeks he was in the job and there was also a month’s salary due for the first four weeks he worked for Avocet. He had received no recompense for expenses he had incurred since May 2019.

"We had not had a pay slip since May 2019 and I was getting letters from the pensions company to say our contributions had not been received".

.Asked why he had decided to speak to Not Just Sheep & Rugby Mr Jeffrey said: “There’s nothing to lose and I believe it is important to tell people what has happened to us. I have been unfairly accused of various things by Mr Frost, all of them totally unfounded.

"I have about 150 emails from Mr Frost telling me he is going to buy cattle feed or pay my outstanding wages but at the end of the day there was always an excuse for not buying the feed or not paying what I was due.

"When I first went to work for Avocet I was enthusiastic after hearing what they were planning to do. Investment was being made initially but that soon dried up and nothing ever got finished.I must admit I was taken in”.

Avocet was asked for comment about Mr Jeffrey's tribunal case. Mr Frost provided a copy of his company's lodged defence which we reproduce in full:

"Claimant has been paid, indeed overpaid for the actual time worked. Claimant has not been charged with the theft of the items from Harcarse Hill farm though a report has gone to the PF (procurator fiscal) involving colleagues of the claimant re the theft of some £550,000 of items - that said the claimant civilly is likely to be sued for perceived theft involvement as he left the keys in the vehicles which were stolen and attempted to erase the CCTV. Claimant is to be sued for breach of his NDA Claimant is under investigation, along with his father, for another potential fraud from Avocet involving over £400,000 plus of damages & loss."

Mr Jeffrey said: "We were not involved in any thefts or breaches in data protection. Please also note Janet Orr Frost (Martin Frost's wife and a fellow director of Avocet) was on the farm in the afternoon I was made redundant. She knew the keys were in the vehicles, yet she didn’t remove them.

"I gave all CCTV access to the police. The Avocet directors' allegations that we had some involvement in these 'crimes' was later shown to be unfounded by Police Scotland."