About Nichola

Nichola Fletcher trained as a jewellery designer, an art which she still practices and for which she has received many accolades - her work is in many public and private collections and she has won several awards for her designs.

But it is for her work with venison and game that she is more widely known. She and her husband John started Britain's first deer farm in 1973, and Nichola has devoted her life since then to helping people to appreciate, understand and cook venison and other game meats. The Fletchers have been nominated for a Slow Food Award, and were joint winners of the Best Food Producer category in the 2006 BBC Food & Farming Awards for their work with venison.

She has advised businesses all over the world on venison production and processing.

Nichola is a member of the Guild of Food Writers.

She wrote her first book "Venison, The Monarch of the Table" in 1983. After that, her interest extended to all game , and in 1987 published "Game for All" which remained in print for 19 years. She also edited a third book, "Perfect Venison" and co-authored "The Poultry and Game Buyers Guide" as well as contributing to many other authors' collections.

In 2004, after many years of research, she published "Charlemagne's Tablecloth; a piquant history of feasting" – a food history book in contrast to her previous cookery books. This won an international silver award at Cannes as well as being shortlisted for Best Food Book in the Guild of Foodwriters Awards in 2005. It has also been published in America, Finland, and China.

In 2007 she published her major work "Nichola Fletcher's Ultimate Venison Cookery". This long-awaited book won the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards prize for "Best single subject in the world" in 2008. 

She is past Chairman of the British Deer Farmers Association Promotions Committee, and was also a Director of Scottish Farm Venison Ltd. As Deputy Chair of the Food Trust of Scotland she is a champion of the small specialist food producer and a founder member of the Scottish Food Group. She was awarded the 1994 Scottish Food Achievement Award for her work for the Scottish venison industry.

 Over the years Nichola has given many specialist workshop courses for cookery schools, private tuition sessions, and international lectures. She did the game cooking demonstrations for the CLA Game Fair for many years and has done the Scottish Game Fair demonstrations since it started. She works with the Deer Commission for Scotland on their 'Best Practice' events, teaching stalkers how to make the best of their venison.

Her favourite game event however is her Tutored Game Tastings - a unique sensory experience. She is an enthusiast for mounting food extravaganzas and recreations of former glorious food occasions. She usually lives in Fife but spends some of her time in a charming sixteenth century tower in Perigord.