Brothers Barry and Henry Chevallier-Guild own and run Aspalls, a cider and apple vinegar producer that has been in the family for eight generations. Barry on Henry Henry and I joined the family business 14 years ago but my first job here was as a boy, cutting the grass in the orchard - all 90 acres of it. The moment I passed my driving test I was delivering our cider and vinegar to London in an old van. My brother and I are partners in the business but I oversee the sales and marketing operations and am more of the brand ambassador for Aspalls. People often say they couldn't imagine working with their brother every day but we get along very well. We spent many summer holidays together playing in the orchard and the woods and a bond grew from there. There is no room for ego in our shared office and we can both sit back and be open and honest about each other's ideas. Henry is very conscientious about commitment to quality and is intrigued how the products are made. He successfully challenged the established practices and preconceptions of cider-making and was instrumental in developing what is now one of the UK's fastest growing cider brands. Henry on Barry The two of us shared all the management roles for the first 12 years but I now focus on the production and financial side of the company. Because Barry is eminently presentable, articulate and a very assured speaker, he tends to go on the business export visits and act as the public face of the business. When we initially decided to relaunch our cider, Barry was always confident it would succeed because everything was intrinsically good about the product. But we are quite different in the sense that I tend to race around taking on lots of stuff, whereas my brother will stay calm and focused on a single issue. Barry and I are both delighted how successfully the business has developed but there did come a point when we realised that the situation was progressing beyond our skill set so we brought in Peter Moore as managing director. It's one thing to have a good relationship with a retailer but quite another to have your product flying off the shelf. 'Seek good advice and take it,' as our father always said. Having gone through the stress of running the business prior to us, father is happy to offer his two-pence worth of advice and is fiercely proud of our achievements.

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