We are delighted to share some exciting news from The Countryside Kitchen – we have been named one of the Nation’s Favourite Businesses for 2026!

The recognition comes from Small Business Saturday UK, following a nationwide search to find and celebrate some of the small businesses and organisations making a difference in communities across the country.

The Countryside Kitchen is run by No Fuss Meals for Busy Parents CIC, a not-for-profit social enterprise founded by Milly Fyfe MBE in 2023. Based at Orchard Farm in Yelvertoft, Northamptonshire, our work uses food, farming and practical cookery to help children, families and community groups build knowledge, confidence and a stronger connection with the countryside.

For us, being recognised as one of the Nation’s Favourite Businesses is particularly special because The Countryside Kitchen is about much more than the products we sell. Our trading activity helps us create opportunities for people to learn, experience and connect.

More than 1,000 people welcomed in our first year

Since opening The Countryside Kitchen, we have welcomed more than 1,000 people to fully funded food and farming workshops in our first year alone.

Our visitors include children, schools, families and community groups, with our hands-on sessions helping people explore where their food comes from and how it is produced.

Depending on the season, visitors might make bread, cook over the fire, plant seeds, press apples, harvest produce, meet our farm animals, investigate soil, discover wildlife or prepare a meal using simple ingredients.

For many of the people we welcome, it is their first opportunity to spend meaningful time on a working farm.

That is at the heart of what we are trying to achieve.

We want more people to understand the connection between the food on their plate, the farmers who produce it and the countryside around them.

When you support our small business, you support our educational work

The Countryside Kitchen also has its own honesty shop at Orchard Farm, and this plays an important part in our social enterprise model. Our shelves bring together produce from our own farm alongside products from other farmers and independent food businesses. Most importantly, the trading income generated through our honesty shop supports our educational work. So when somebody visits us and buys something from the shop, the impact of that purchase goes much further.

It helps us champion British farming and local food producers while generating income that can be reinvested into our work connecting children and adults with food, farming and the countryside.

It is a wonderful example of the ripple effect that supporting a small business can create.

Proud to be one of the Nation’s Favourite Businesses

Following a nationwide search, The Countryside Kitchen has been selected as part of this year's Nation’s Favourite Businesses line-up, a new development from the campaign's long-standing SmallBiz100.

Milly Fyfe MBE, founder of No Fuss Meals for Busy Parents CIC and The Countryside Kitchen, said:

“We’re delighted to be recognised as one of the Nation’s Favourite Businesses. Small businesses can have an impact far beyond the products or services they sell, and that is very much at the heart of what we do.

“In the first year since opening The Countryside Kitchen, more than 1,000 people have taken part in our fully funded food and farming workshops, helping children and adults understand where food comes from, develop practical skills and feel more connected to the countryside.

“Trading income from our honesty shop supports this educational work, while also giving us a platform to champion our own farm produce and products from other farming businesses.

“Supporting a small business can create a real ripple effect across a community, and we are incredibly proud to be part of that.”

Celebrating small businesses across the UK

The Nation’s Favourite Businesses campaign will showcase selected businesses during the official countdown to Small Business Saturday on 5 December 2026.

Small Business Saturday UK is a grassroots, non-commercial campaign celebrating small business success and encouraging people to shop locally and support businesses within their communities.

Michelle Ovens CBE, Director of Small Business Saturday UK, said:

“Small businesses have always been, and will continue to be, among the nation’s favourite businesses. Whether on our high streets, online or embedded in local communities, they play a vital role in the places we live and in the strength of our economy.”

She added that this year's Nation’s Favourite Businesses represent the diversity of the UK's small business community, from family-run cafés and restaurants to makers, services and traders.

American Express, which originally founded Small Business Saturday in the United States and is the principal supporter of the UK campaign, is also continuing to support the initiative.

Dan Edelman, General Manager, UK Merchant Services at American Express, described small businesses as bringing “energy, innovation and character” to high streets and local economies and said this year's selected businesses are a showcase of the UK's entrepreneurial spirit.

Thank you for supporting The Countryside Kitchen

This recognition wouldn't be possible without the many people and organisations who have supported The Countryside Kitchen.

From the children, families, schools and community groups who take part in our workshops to our volunteers, funders, farmers, food producers, partners and everyone who visits our honesty shop – you are all part of our story.

Every purchase, recommendation, shared social media post, workshop booking and conversation about our work helps us reach more people.

As a small rural social enterprise, that support really does matter.

We are incredibly proud that something growing from a farm in a small Northamptonshire village has been recognised nationally – and we are excited to continue developing The Countryside Kitchen and welcoming even more people through our doors.

Thank you for supporting small. Thank you for supporting local. And thank you for supporting The Countryside Kitchen.

You can find out more about the Nation’s Favourite Businesses and Small Business Saturday UK at smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com.

Find Out More

We’re incredibly proud to represent Northamptonshire as one of the Nation’s Favourite Businesses for 2026 and to have the work of The Countryside Kitchen recognised nationally.

Want to read the full announcement?

Download our official press release to discover more about our selection, the Nation’s Favourite Businesses campaign and Small Business Saturday UK.

And, of course, the best way to support The Countryside Kitchen is to be part of it. Visit our honesty shop, choose local and British produce, tell others about our work or follow our journey as we continue connecting more people with food, farming and the countryside.

Thank you for supporting small. Thank you for supporting local. And thank you for supporting The Countryside Kitchen.