ACORNS alumni Alison Chambers’ Slieve Bloom Organics is most definitely in the growth business.
Alison Chambers took the reins of her business Slieve Bloom Organics, in November 2023, when she bought out the owner whom she had been working for as a horticulturist for three years.
Slieve Bloom Organics, which is based on a farm that Alison rents at Lough Boora, Co Offaly, delivers organic produce to domestic and wholesale customers across the Midlands.
“I signed the paperwork to take over the Slieve Bloom Organics business on a Friday and was trading as its owner on the Monday without ever having met a single custome”
As well as growing organic vegetables, Alison sells dairy, meat and bread products.
She is a graduate of the celebrated ACORNS women entrepreneurship programme which recently opened applications for 11th Cycle as previous participants reported 54% revenue growth. The next programme has a deadline of midnight on 22 September. The programme is available to early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland who have generated sales no earlier than the end of June 2022. Up to 50 places are available for ACORNS 11, which will run from October 2025 to April 2026.
Growing the entrepreneurial landscape
When Alison studied horticulture 35 years ago, she had wanted to grow and sell organic produce but at the time it wasn’t considered commercially viable.
So, she worked in landscaping and garden design – her first foray into entrepreneurship – and subsequently retrained as a graphic designer before returning to her ‘dream job’ as an organic gardener.
“I signed the paperwork to take over the Slieve Bloom Organics business on a Friday and was trading as its owner on the Monday without ever having met a single customer – having just worked as a horticulturist there.”
An intense period of creating proper accounts and understanding pricing followed and Alison is still in the process of establishing operational processes and getting a website created for the business.
When she took over Slieve Bloom Organics, it had one employee apart from her, and she has since hired a second one.
“The ACORNS programme gave me the opportunity to step out of the day-to-day of running the business and analyse how it was going. I found it good to share feedback and encouragement with the other participants on the programme.”
She plans to acquire more polytunnels and ground to enable her to service high demand for organic vegetables. Ultimately, she hopes to buy land instead of renting it and to build a packing shed and other facilities.
From little ACORNS to thriving businesses
Women in rural Ireland with new businesses or at least with well-developed ideas are being invited to join next phase of the programme, ACORNS 11.
The ACORNS programme is designed to support early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland through a peer learning approach. Thanks to the support of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the voluntary contribution of time by Lead Entrepreneurs, there is no charge for those selected to participate.
Interested applicants for ACORNS must first register their interest here and will then receive an application by email. There is no charge for participation, thanks to continued government support and the voluntary contribution of time by Lead Entrepreneurs.
Results from ACORNS 10 demonstrate the programme’s impact on rural female entrepreneurship. All 52 participants who completed the cycle reported feeling closer to achieving their business ambitions, with 90% saying their participation brought about practical change within their business. Four businesses started trading for the first time during the cycle.
The financial results were particularly impressive, with the combined annual turnover of ACORNS 10 participants growing from €2.8m to €4.3m, representing a 54% increase. Participants employed a total of 104 staff at the end of the cycle, an increase of 15 positions, and 18 participants had gained export experience.
ACORNS operates on the belief that early-stage entrepreneurs learn best from their peers. The programme features monthly roundtable sessions facilitated by Lead Entrepreneurs who have first-hand experience of starting and successfully growing businesses in rural Ireland.
The programme has also been recognised as a ‘good practice’ on the EU’s INTERREG Learning Platform, adding to its recent accolades.
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