Velvet Energy (Devon)

Velvet Energy is not (as it at first sounds) a new renewable energy company, but “the only supplier of New Zealand Deer Velvet in the UK and we are passionate about ensuring it receives the recognition it deserves.” What? Deer velvet is early antler growth, soft, cartilaginous tissue, well supplied with blood vessels and nerves, which can grow more than 2 centimetres a day. In the wild it is naturally shed, but as deer are not native to New Zealand (they were brought from England and Scotland in the mid-late 19th century for hunting), they are farmed and the velvet removed under anaesthetic. The business set up in the UK “is run by husband and wife team Pauline & Doug Harkin”. It was started in Banbury (Oxon), but the couple relocated close to Exmoor National Park (where the notorious Devon and Somerset Staghounds hunt). One of Velvet Energy’s current Directors is John Stephenson, who has been a Director of the Pytchley Hunt (now the Pytchley & Woodland Hunt) since 2005.