In the latest series of Clarkson’s Farm, which launched on Amazon Prime this week, the former Top Gear presenter said the Oxfordshire pub, which opened in August 2024, had struggled to turn a profit despite strong demand.
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Clarkson said the venue, located in Burford and launched five years after he took on the Diddly Squat Farm, was “losing money” even though it was fully booked every day.
“We’re fully booked every day, couldn’t get more people in if we tried, I’m stumped. We’ve got people coming and we’re losing,” he said.
Discussing the situation with accountant Charlie Ireland, Clarkson added profit before tax at the pub was down £8,486 during its first four months of trading.
Ireland added the Farmer’s Dog was a victim of its own success, highlighting infrastructure constraints and high operating costs, including £47,000 a month on parking attendants.
Pricing pressures
To address these pressures, Ireland suggested Clarkson consider the “controversial” option of increasing prices.
However, Clarkson explained a benchmarking exercise against nearby pubs suggested the Farmer’s Dog, which uses exclusively British products and produce, was already among the cheapest in the area.
He highlighted a starter of chicken liver parfait and sourdough bread priced at £9.50, compared with an average of £12.50 locally and around £15 at award-winning Top 50 gastropub the Bull in Charlbury.
Clarkson also noted national press coverage had wrongly portrayed the pub as expensive.
“Our ingredients cost more than all these other pubs and we pay more for the food than any other pub and charging less, so we have to put the prices up, and I think we can put them up to what people think we’re charging anyway,” he said.
This comes as operators across the sector continue to face soaring operating costs, from wages to business rates and food inflation, with two pubs a day having closed for good during the first quarter of 2026 alone.
Operational challenges
Beyond cost pressures, elsewhere in the series Clarkson also pointed to a series of operational challenges affecting the site.
He said theft had become a recurring issue, including around £200 worth of cooking oil, lightbulbs and urinal traps, as well as approximately 400 pint glasses stolen every week.
Despite installing a 6,000-litre water tank that refills overnight, Clarkson said the pub was still frequently running out of water.
Electricity supply also proved insufficient, with a permanent grid upgrade estimated at £200,000. As an interim measure, the business has been using a generator costing around £100 per day.
However, the Hawkstone Brewery owner wearily told the camera this fee was “nothing” compared to the cost of the theft.
The first four episodes of Clarkson’s Farm Series 5 are available now on Amazon Prime, with more set to be released later this month (June). The Morning Advertiser (The MA) will be reporting on the series as it is released.
