James Bulmer, of Kenyon Hall Farm near Warrington, has developed a bespoke AI tool to help with ticketing within the business’s pick-your-own enterprise.
The family has farmed on the site for more than 500 years and opened it to the public in 1978. James had previously worked in IT before rejoining the business in 2016.
As the pick-your-own business expanded, it became reliant on third-party ticketing software, which came at a significant cost. It also limited the control the business had over the customer experience.
Taking part in the University of Salford’s six-week BUILD AI programme, James created a tailor-made system for the farm, allowing it to manage availability in 10-minute intervals and provide customers with information before they arrive and during the booking process.
According to the farm, this has cut software costs from £8,000/year to just £600, with the money saved being invested in seasonal staff, including local students, and improvements to the overall visitor experience.
James said: “Within the first half hour we had our laptops open and were building things ourselves. It wasn’t a course where you sat watching presentations about what AI might be able to do. You were using AI from day one.
“People often worry that AI replaces jobs. My experience has been the opposite. By making the business more efficient behind the scenes, we’ve been able to invest more in the customer-facing roles that create the experience people come to Kenyon Hall Farm for.
“Looking back, I still find it hard to believe what I built in just a few weeks. What started as a six-week programme has become something we now rely on every day, helping thousands of customers enjoy their visit to the farm while saving the business thousands of pounds every year.”