In this podcast season, curated in partnership with Somerset Chamber of Commerce, hgkc are exploring Somerset with prominent business leaders who have built businesses and their careers in the county. 

In this episode, Peter Quintana talks to Adam Wardrope CBE DFC MA, Vice President Market Development at Leonardo Helicopters UK. 

After a career in the RAF, Adam joined Leonardo initially in Luton, moving to Yeovil in 2025. Although not a local, he describes Somerset as a beautiful place to work and talks about sensing, almost as soon as he started at the Yeovil site, the ‘soul’ of a workforce that has 100 years of heritage.

Proteus, the uncrewed autonomous helicopter and the UK MOD contract for medium helicopters have secured the long-term future for Leonardo in Yeovil, and with it the careers of the employees already there. 

Deeply embedded in the community, working closely with Yeovil College, Leonardo is inspiring and exciting new generations of young people with cutting edge advances in advanced aerospace engineering technology.  

If you would like to find out more about Leonardo, the home of British Helicopters, you can do so here.

If you would like more information about hgkc help clients prepare for their exit, pivot to a new market, grow through innovation, or develop their leadership teams, please contact us here. 

In this podcast season, curated in partnership with Somerset Chamber of Commerce, hgkc are exploring Somerset with prominent business leaders who have built businesses and their careers in the county. 

In this episode, Sarah Chilcott speaks to Martin Thatcher, the 4^th generation cider maker at Thatchers. Martin talks about his pride in his family business, which started when his great-grandfather moved to Myrtle Farm in 1904. He talks about how the business evolved from being a shop where people could taste before they bought their cider to the innovative business it is today, influenced heavily by long term planning for the 5^th and even 6th generations of cider makers ahead. 

He also recognises that there must be a balance between the sophisticated automated production of the business, and the importance of retaining the craftmanship and the heritage – all the things they have learnt over the last 122 years. 

His genuine love for the land, for Somerset, and of course for cider, shines through. 

If you would like to find out more about Thatchers Cider, you can do that here.

If you would like more information about how hgkc help clients prepare for their exit, pivot to a new market, grow through innovation, or develop their leadership teams, please contact us here.