The AMC is not just finance for Farmers and definitely not just for farms! A common misconception is that the AMC only lends finance to farmers to buy farms and agricultural purposes and although that is the core of the business they are also very competitive in supporting anyone with a rural business or property […]
Posted on January 26th, 2016 by Andrew Troughton
Pershore and Upton Branch of NFU have once again held a very successful conference, this year offering the panel to give us their ideas on what they would like to achieve if they were in charge of British agriculture. The panellists comprised of NFU vice president, Guy Smith, 2015 Three Counties young agricultural entrepreneur Joe […]
Posted on January 22nd, 2016 by Andrew Troughton
“If I were running British Agriculture I would …” WE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO REMIND YOU THAT THE PERSHORE NFU CONFERENCE IS TAKING PLACE AT PERSHORE COLLEGE ON: 21st January 2016 at 7.30pm Hosted by the Pershore and Upton upon Severn branch of the NFU, the theme of this year’s conference is to provoke […]
Posted on January 14th, 2016 by Andrew Troughton
The change of use of agricultural buildings to residential use is permitted under Class Q of the General Permitted Development (England) Order 2015. The updated Class Q permitted development right, as published on 15th April 2015, allow development consisting of— (a) a change of use of a building and any land within its curtilage from […]
Posted on January 13th, 2016 by Andrew Troughton
Worcestershire based Chartered Surveyors, Carver Knowles have appointed Planning consultant Simon Rowles as their newest recruit to their expanding planning consultancy team. Simon joins us from Malvern Hills District Council Planning Services and brings with him a depth of experience and knowledge in town and country planning and has a focused interest in the Three […]
Posted on January 4th, 2016 by Andrew Troughton
Buying property, be it a house, flat, pony paddock, block of agricultural land or building plot is a major undertaking. It is probably the single most expensive investment you will ever make. It is essential that you know everything you possibly can about the property you are taking on and are aware of any factors […]
Posted on December 9th, 2015 by Andrew Troughton
Are loans a better alternative than extending the overdraft? With poor farm gate prices across all farming sectors many businesses are feeling the financial pressure on cash flow. Finance is generally tight and banks are not always willing to help. In the arable sectors yields were generally good, but commodity prices remain stubbornly low and […]
Posted on November 17th, 2015 by Andrew Troughton
This article is aimed at helping farmers prepare the perfect farm tender. Andrew Troughton gives his advice. The recent NFU National Tenant Conference included a section on how to tender for a farm tenancy. I spoke there about the 15 Minute Business Plan as an important part of this process. As a step on […]
Posted on November 16th, 2015 by Andrew Troughton
During the 1980’s and 1990’s there were excellent grants around for converting barns to holiday cottages as a method of farm diversification. Planning laws also encouraged the re-use of barns for tourism enterprises as well so many barns were converted across England. If this was you and you have been managing a single holiday cottage […]
Posted on November 13th, 2015 by Andrew Troughton
Last month we looked at the time limits for Enforcement Action. This time Julie Branfield looks in more detail at those time limits and specifically how they relate to planning conditions and in particular Agricultural Occupancy Conditions. What we discovered last time was that there are time limits for council taking enforcement action against breaches of […]
Posted on October 21st, 2015 by Andrew Troughton