Ian Jones is an accomplished event producer and moderator.  He first trained a chef in the 90s and went on to have a successful career in the hospitality industry for over 25 years working for hotels and producing events, from bespoke private dinners to international conferences with thousands of attendees. 

In 2017 he swapped his suit for his wellies to set up Hill House Farm, a farm to table food business, supplying the hotel and restaurant trade with outdoor bred rare breed pork and lamb, all reared on the farm in the Surrey Hills.

In March 2020, with the arrival of Covid-19, disaster struck as the farm’s wholesale customer base were forced to close wiping out all the farms custom and income. To save the Farm, and help keep the nation fed, overnight Ian pivoted the business to become consumer facing. He also collaborated with a host of other like-minded local farmers and producers to provide a wide selection of locally sourced produce to consumers. With no infrastructure for customer orders in place, the first ones came in via WhatsApp and over the phone, but Ian knew he needed a more robust and comprehensive solution, so he worked tirelessly to develop online shop from scratch and within two months it was up and running. 

At its peak Ian and the team were delivering orders to over 400 homes across Surrey and Sussex. Ian’s herculean efforts were subsequently recognised by Her Majesty the Queen in the June 2021 birthday honours list, by being awarded the British Empire Medal for services to the community. In May 2022 it was time for a change and Ian stepped away from the Farm to start Food Ideas, with the aim of connecting people with great food and drink through his work creating and moderating food and drink events.