The Story of Bettws Hall

Established in 1988 by Gwyn Evans, a livestock farmer who always had a keen interest in country sports, he expanded the company into the hugely successful game rearing and shooting business it is today. Run and managed as a family business by Gwyn, his wife Ann and their two children Amy and William, they employ around 150 full-time staff, including 45 gamekeepers, who manage their nine shooting estates across five counties, including Mid Wales and the West Country. 

You might wonder how so many staff members could be needed but with 450 shoot days, summer holiday lets, organised bespoke shooting trips abroad, running a Kawasaki ATV dealership, plus a game farm where 8 million eggs are set each year – everyone has a role to play.

After joining Bettws Hall in 2012, sporting agent Philip Wolstenhome commented: “There has been an increase of 20% in the shooting sales department over the past five years, with an increased presence of individual Guns on our ever-growing roving syndicate. We have also seen a marked increase in guests from abroad, mostly Northern America and the Continent. The average age of guns has also decreased, which is positive for the future of the industry.”

“With interest growing for shooting partridge as part of a mixed bag day, we have introduced partridge at Vaynor Park, which has proved very popular. We have just taken on some new land adjoining Maesmawr Hall, which will double the size of the shootable land on the estate and add an extra five drives to the portfolio. We are ever evolving, improving and encouraging younger guns to take up shooting and reaching into new markets to attract clients to the sport.”

With family at the core, Gwyn’s wife Ann oversees the quality control in the hatchery during the summer months, before transforming into a master of hospitality. Their son and daughter, William and Amy take the lead in rearing and running shoot days – from a young age Amy and William have been heavily involved and even had their own rearing site in the summer holidays.

Talking about her role Amy Evans commented: “I really enjoy the sense of satisfaction from fulfilling a customer’s order, crating poults or on a shoot day where everything has come together. It’s great to work with your family and it being a team effort. As for the future, any changes to government legislation or the legality of shooing would have large impacts on business but we remain tenacious to adapt. My brother and I are very keen to look at further options for expansion and diversification as our father did nearly three decades ago.”

Bettws Hall is not just any typical game farm, as a leader in the game production industry with a state-of-the-art game hatchery, they continue to produce the finest quality pheasants, ducks and partridge for delivery across the UK as chicks and poults.

Having grown from setting 1,000 eggs per week in an old turkey incubator, they now set up to 800,000 eggs per week and rear more than 1.7 million poults per year, around 60 rearing sites across Mid-Wales and Borders.

Richard Croft, the sales director, joined Bettws Hall in 2008. He commented: “Game farm sales have increased three-fold. We are always seeking ways to improve the biosecurity of the game farm. The most challenging part of the role is in ensuring customers’ expectations are met and exceeded. I’m most proud of our increased predictability of hatch and rear rates, which help ensure customers get what they want, when they want it, resulting from of our improved bio security and technological investments.”

With business booming and lots of positive activity happening, you may ask what the future holds for Bettws Hall - watch this space as the resounding theme is continued growth, development and expansion from the next generation, William and Amy. 

Find out more about Bettws Hall's shoots and availability.