Two very different versions of Unity finally met today to celebrate EarthDay.
Commercial residents Unity Technologies - the global gaming company whose UK headquarters have sat within the estate for twelve years, arrived from their offices at Grove Business Park. The other Unity roamed the park accompanied by her young calf Albert and the rest of the herd.
We welcomed the group of highly skilled developers, engineers and digital creatives working at the forefront of virtual worlds and interactive technology, to the park for a guided walk and talk, introduction to natural capital, sustainable farming and to meet our matriarch heifer, Unity. Conversation soon turned from technology to soil, livestock, and the future of farming.
Historically, Alscot’s main business stream has been property — residential homes and commercial businesses, adapting to modern day requirements to keep the estate sustainable, providing roofs over people’s heads and local employment. Farming has always existed too, but for generations much of the farmland had been managed by tenant farmers, often using more conventional methods: high-output systems maximising speed and yield through synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, and heavy machinery.
In 2024, for the first time in generations, came an opportunity to bring some of the land back in hand. The estate chose to look forwards, using the chance to rethink how farming could work alongside the wider commercial reality of a modern estate. Not replacing development with farming, nor farming with development, but finding balance between the two.
Whilst farmers are still debating whether support is stable, practical, and profitable enough to make large-scale transition viable long term, regenerative farming was the right decision for the land.
As we walked, Paddy Hoare explained the regenerative farming goals now shaping the land: improving soil health, encouraging biodiversity, grazing livestock and working with natural systems. It is still early days, but the aim is to create a model where business, homes, nature, and food production can all support one another sustainably.
It felt strangely fitting that the conversation about balance should happen beside a cow named Unity. Members of Unity spoke about collaboration across countries and industries; Paddy spoke about collaboration with the land itself.
The event culminated with a picnic lunch, kindly hosted by Monsoon Estates Coffee Co another valued business that is part of the Alscot Estate community, who generously opened their café space to provide shelter from the downpours.
By the end of the visit, with Unity and Albert shying away from any group shot photos — Earth Day at Alscot served as a reminder that progress and modern day living is rarely about choosing one path over another; more often, it is about finding ways for different worlds to work together in balance.
