Case Studies

Farm building conversion

Jane Schwier was embarking on a huge project of converting farm buildings into five holiday lets and a rental property. From the very beginning of the project, she had to ensure that she had a strong team on board to help her with the planning, development and crucially, the finance. Jane Schwier owns 200-acre Woodside Green Farm, near Bishops Stortford. After deciding to sell her herd of 160 Holstein cows, she looked for another project. Her husband, Andrew and his brother Robert were farming 1,170 acres of predominantly arable land as a separate business, Schwier Farms Ltd.

Livestock expansion and slurry store

Einion Jenkins had ambitions to expand his farm on the edge of the Welsh Mountains near Machynlleth and started with planning a new slurry store. With part of the project being funded by a grant he needed to find the rest of the funding urgently as the grant had to be used in a short timescale. Unfortunately, after deliberating for some time, Einion’s bank declined his proposal for funding. Einion found a loan offer through a broker at an interest rate of 11%, which wasn’t attractive.

Buying a sibling out of family farm

Anaerobic Digestion plant purchase

Family buy-out

Owing to the sensitive nature of the agreement involved in this case, our clients have asked we keep their details anonymous. However, they were delighted with the support and advice that R&BS gave them over an extended period and were happy we shared their story. Mr B and his family shared a farm that had been in the family for over 70 years. They also ran a successful specialist business in the agricultural sector. With multiple people and families involved, they collectively agreed to buy members out of the farm and business.

Arable farm purchase

Since David Chennells’ father bought the 60-acre Highlands farm in 1947, the farm has grown to 1,000 acres. David took on the farm in 1970 and is keen to leave a farming legacy for each of his four daughters.  When nearby Montpeliers Farm came on the market the family knew that it would help achieve that aim. The family’s land agent recommended R&BS David now farms with one of his daughters, Janice. To finance the new farm purchase, their land agent Tim Cooper of Whirledge & Nott advised they work with Rob Lister at R&BS.