But record low yields, soaring costs and inheritance tax changes dubbed 'the final straw' are seeing farmers turn their backs on tradition in search of greener and more profitable pastures.

White House Farm, on the outskirts of Norwich, has been in the Gurney family for 150 years, growing crops like wheat, malting barley, soft fruit, and potatoes over the years.

Charlotte and Oliver Gurney, owners of White House Farm in Sprowston(Image: Sonya Duncan)

Ex-Royal Marine Oliver Gurney and his wife Charlotte took over the farm in 2013, but since then have taken it in a new direction - turning barns into businesses and switching crops for customers.

In the last decade, the couple have transformed the site into a hive of independent firms, converting the farm's derelict barns into homes for more than a dozen small businesses - including a hair salon, beauty rooms, nursery, doggy day care, and pottery and dance studios.

White House Farm is now home to a cafe, farm shop and butchery alongside more than a dozen small businesses(Image: Sonya Duncan)

However, it took them several years to embark on their transition away from farming.

They initially ran the farm as a fruit-picking business, but soon found that despite plenty of footfall the business simply wasn't profitable enough to survive.

"It just wasn’t a viable business," said Charlotte Gurney, who left her corporate job at a London headhunting firm, working with the likes of Apple and Google, to run her husband's family farm in Norfolk.

Ex-Marine Oliver Gurney and his wife Charlotte, who previously worked for a London headhunting firm(Image: Sonya Duncan)

"It felt like it was brilliant because we had so many people coming here, but in terms of monetary takings it was very poor.

"In a corporate role, if something’s not working you ring up a different department and they sort it........

© Norwich Evening News