Jeremy Clarkson, the famed presenter of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and former Top Gear star, has announced a significant closure at his Diddly Squat Farm Shop. The announcement was made on the shop’s official website, alerting customers that the business will shut its doors throughout January and February, after closing on December 29.
A clear message on the website’s homepage reads: “The original Farm Shop at Chadlington is closed for January and February. The pop up farm shop at The Farmer’s Dog Pub is open Wednesday to Sundays, 10am – 4.30pm.” This hiatus is also noted in the ‘opening hours’ section of the site, stating: “We are open on the 27th, 28th and 29th December. We will be shut in January and February, reopening on 1st March.”
However, Jeremy has not given any reasons for the extended closure. This development follows the recent closure of the Grand Tour tent at his pub, which was necessitated by damage from Storm Darragh.
Jeremy opened his pub in August 2024
(Image: (Image: PA))
Just before revealing the two-month shutdown, Jeremy, who took over The Farmer’s Dog pub in August, shared some other hurdles he’s faced with this new endeavour. In a conversation with The Times, he discussed the difficulties in making the pub profitable and described the “horror” encountered in the pub toilets, saying: “No amount of festival visits would prepare you for the horror of what had been produced at the Farmer’s Dog.”
He’s candidly discussed the staggering issues encountered while trying to keep his gastropub business running, including a severe plumbing problem that needed a specialised hazmat team intervention, reports Gloucestershire Live. He explained his ordeal, confessing, “It was everywhere and in such vast quantities that no ordinary plumbing or cleaning equipment would even scratch the surface. So a whole team of chemically trained hazmat engineers had to be employed. That’s a cost I’d never factored into any of my business plans.”
On top of these challenges, he also disclosed that patrons have been subtly stealing glassware, contributing to unforeseen expenses. In his column for the Times, Jeremy said: “That cost must be added to the £100 a day we spend on fuel for the generator, the £400 a week it costs to provide warmth on the terrace and the £27,000 a month we must spend on parking and traffic marshals to keep the council off our back.”
Despite drawing a steady crowd to his venue, profit remains just out of reach for the renowned TV personality. His frustration is evident as he noted, “It’s galling to see how much effort is required to make so little money on the farm. It’s worse at the pub. The customers are coming. There’s no problem there. But turning their visits into a profit is nigh-on impossible.”
Jeremy confessed: “It’s warm and there’s a fire and the staff are friendly and young and happy. It’s a proper, traditional pub. By which I mean you’ll love it, and I’ll lose a fortune and develop a skin disease from the stress of running it.”
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