Harry Metcalfe

Charles Harrison "Harry" Metcalfe is an English farmer and businessman, best known as the founder and former editorial director of Evo Magazine, and presenter of YouTube channels Harry's Garage and Harry's Farm.
Farming
Having failed his A-Level Maths and hence unable to get into Loughborough University to study automotive engineering, Metcalfe decided to study agriculture at Shuttleworth agricultural college, graduating in 1980 with an HND.
Deciding he wanted to become a farmer, he took a series of agricultural related jobs to build up his capital funds, whilst also farming on rented land to build his experience. On graduation he became a grain trader, whilst also raising sheep on rented land. Deciding that animals needed too much daily care, he has since focused on arable farming, initially renting land in the Harpenden area. With his focus on buying his own farm, Metcalfe also ran a property development company with his wife, whom he met at college. It is termed a mixed farm, mainly arable with wheat being the main crop. Metcalfe lets the 80 acres of grassland - 70 of which is organic - to a livestock farmer, who farms Sussex cattle, sheep and alpacas. The farm also has 10 acres of wild bird mix and over 3 miles of stone walls to maintain.
Automotive interests
During his early years, Metcalfe had an interest in horses, in part as his grandfather traded them professionally. His father eventually excited his interest in motorcycles, which he used to explore the forests around his family's Welsh holiday home. He developed this into buying and restoring bikes that he could sell for profit, and in school helping others with their cars, which enabled him to buy and develop a fast 2.0litre Volkswagen Beetle.
Evo magazine
After EMAP decided to integrate specialist magazine Performance Car into Car magazine in 1998, Metcalfe and motoring journalist John Barker began forming plans to fill what they saw as a black hole in the specialist motoring magazine area.
Metcalfe formed the business and would run the business side, with Barker joined by writers including Richard Meaden, David Vivian and Peter Tomalin all holding a minority share. Metcalfe created a business plan based on potentially selling his family holiday home in Wales, and although turned down for a loan for the magazine, he initially financed the three month launch period through a £275,000 loan originally designated to fund a grain store on his farm. Employing a research group, the original name was proposed by them to be Roadsport Magazine (also the name of a hill climbing journal). At a group brain storming session, after pointing out that there was a mobile phone company called Orange and a magazine called Red - neither of which included what they did in the title, but had an association with their market - whilst flicking through Autocar magazine Metcalfe suggested EVO based on seeing a Maserati Quattroporte Evoluzione in the future cars section. After proving successful in branding, the name stuck.
Dennis Publishing enabled the magazine to reduce its costs in both printing, distribution as well as IT; as well as increasing subscriptions and distribution, especially overseas licensing. The online Evo Forum at the point of takeover was consuming over half of the IT infrastructure costs, but not producing any revenue. Unable to form a positive business plan, the Evo Forum was shut down, with its editors and managers forming a new forum called PistonHeads, now a globally successful automotive forum. Metcalfe became head of the Dennis Publishing Automotive, which included EVO alongside Auto Express and the later purchase of Octane magazine.
In August 2019 Harry started a second YouTube channel dedicated to his farming life where he hopes to educate people about farming. On the channel he shows the day to day running of his 400 acre Cotswold farm from such as cultivation, combining and sustainable beef production.
Cars (Previously Owned)
*TVR Griffith
*Porsche 930 Turbo
* (built on a 993 Turbo)
*Ferrari 550 Maranello both Coupe and later a Barchetta
*Pagani Zonda
*Alfa Romeo 105 Junior 2000
*Jaguar XJS V12
*Ferrari 330 GT 2+2
*Ferrari 512 BB
*Ferrari 308 GTB
*Mercedes-Benz SL600
*Maserati GranTurismo
*Saab 900 Turbo 16V
*
*Lancia Delta Integrale (Evo2 Giallo)
*Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto
*
*Land Rover Defender Spectre Edition
Cars (Presently Owned)
* Fiat 500
* Land Rover series 1
* Mercedes-Benz R107 350SL
* Lamborghini Espada Series 2
* Lamborghini Countach 5000QV
* Jaguar XJ-C V12 Manual
* Jaguar XE Project 8
* Jaguar F-Type Project 7
* Ferrari Testarossa
* Lotus Elan Sprint
* Lotus Esprit Turbo HC
* Lancia Fulvia Zagato
* Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
* Renault Clio Renaultsport Trophy 182
*

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