It’s so wet!!! There is zero point in doing anything on the fields or park so it was a bit of a flat day at the farm today.
We checked in on the lodge (great progress but no news), agreed next steps on our secret project, worked out the appearance and structure of our first glamping space, loaded some straw, reorganized the “office”, distributed the qr codes, fitted the log splitter, moved the “welcome” gateway tyre (great idea Dean) and had some good discussions about cashflow and financial management.
I don’t think what the government is doing is fair and I do think it is unfairly focused on farmers, but, I don’t share all the same views as the wider protestors.
To start, I don’t think that farming businesses are any more special to their owners, employees families etc than any other business. I also think that small businesses provide massive employment to the whole country. I ultimately think that (subject to the below) they should be treated the same.
Where farming is being abused is in the unfair nature of the transition to the same rules. Every other business owner has known the situation, has likely worked out a succession plan (or is an idiot) and therefore has had the opportunity to manage their inheritance tax exposure. Farmers aren’t being given this opportunity and it’s that that’s fundamentally wrong. A “fair” way would be to introduce these rules in 8 years thereby allowing farmers the courtesy to get their house in order prior to being penalised. This would also have the benefit of farmers having to have the succession planning conversation with their loved ones close to the traditional retirement age and not leave a challenging and often divisive situation to deal with on their death.
I then have two major problems with small (family owned) business inheritance tax.
Should there be an unexpected premature death then it leaves the family not just without their loved one but also in a situation where the business is no longer viable. Causing additional difficulties at the most stressful time.
Why deliberately shackle businesses that deliver huge cultural benefits to the country and disrupt their employees income potential “just” because their boss dies?
I want to provide a legacy for my family and my community. As a family we have built chapels, tended the environment, supported charities and have been a pillar of consistency (compatible to the multi-generational family butchers, bakers etc). Surely this has some value and shouldn’t be penalised?
I don’t want special treatment, I do however want to be respected for my contribution and treated fairly.
Am so impressed with how this is going. Under floor heating in the kitchen. A flat insulated floor with walk around fire. The corridor for the bedrooms is in and the rooms are bigger than I’d hoped.
Who can tell me what ERP, MRP, SANG, PICNIC, BNG, Reg 19, expenses Vs. expenditure, Reserved matters, allocation, adoption means?
We go through life with acronyms and role specific terminology defining the context of the debate, determining your knowledge undermining your credibility (don’t use formula when you should be using recipe or BOM). Using these shortcuts makes professional conversations faster (if everyone knows the nuances of the definition) but makes access harder for laypeople. It also makes it extremely difficult to negotiate in a professionals world when you are a fundamental cog in their development wheel.
This is where Dad and I found ourselves yesterday, battered by acronyms and tortured by terminology. I can’t remember the number of times that we needed to ask “what does that mean?” Just to be able to follow the conversation, let alone influence it in a way that suits our best interests. We were grateful for the patience of all involved in the conversation and couldn’t have navigated it without help from John and Alistair (our agents). Thank you both.
The discussion related to the forthcoming development and to say that we felt drained afterwards is an understatement. We have a lot of thinking to do!
“Get to the point of this ramble Mike!” (I think I can hear you saying it anyway). My point is that under some circumstances acronyms help accelerate discussion but in other circumstances distract from the depth of discussion and cause unnecessary intellectual drain. I believe that we must always strive to be clear in our communication and make sure that everyone has the same understanding of a word/definition before conversations too far.
So… Can anyone tell me what all the above acronyms mean (I used them all yesterday)? And do you have any of your own to add to the list of confusion?
We’ve got a big decision to make this week, one that changes the feel of the business permanently. One that forces emotional responses to be valued financially. How do you do that? How do you value history, your families identity?
I’ve been pondering this for about a month now as there is a need to have some challenging conversations with our development partner Bloor Homes. The problem is that I don’t know how to value an emotional tie to certain bits of land. I don’t know how to value our families identity, consequently I’m going to struggle to negotiate as I don’t have a starting position. What do I do?
Well, I’ve talked about it a few times with my family and started to determine the questions I want answers to, then while in the shower I tried to work out who of my friends could help, who had been though similar challenges and could help me with reconciling my emotional desires and enable me to turn that into a negotiating position?
I needed someone who had sold some land, or something, that meant something to them, I needed to talk to someone who could understand the emotions and help me determine where my redlines were and their importance. Amazingly on my recent kitesurfing trip I had met a family who had been on that journey and could simply pick up the phone and talk it though. A 20 minute phone call has given me so much clarity and I’m so grateful!
So, today’s lesson to me is, as usual about spending time to define the problem. Thinking about the right people to involve in the conversation, asking good questions and listening to those you trust.
Ok, so occasionally I’m a bit of an idiot. Occasionally I make a mistake and over reach or forget something. I’d suggest that most of the time they are genuine mistakes rather than being incompetent…
But, tax always confuses me!
In this blog I’ve likely expressed the recent challenges that the farm has had, I’m not going to explain the numbers this time but can say that we’ve lost reasonable amounts of money for the last two years. Consequently it didn’t even enter my mind that we might owe the government some money.
3 years ago we made a profit, 3 years! But because of the way the accounting years line up we need to pay tax on that profit this month. But, we’ve lost money for the last 2 years, consequently this news comes as an unwelcome surprise!
I have no doubt we will manage and of course we will pay all that is due but this really has taught me a lesson in planning, cashflow and ultimately accruals. I’m hoping that this is the last nasty surprise I’ll have but have a feeling that there could be more mischievous skeletons waiting to ambush me as I meander past their closets.
Not the way I wanted to start the year… Hopefully good news arrives during the next few weeks so we can close January on a high.
Sometimes it’s good to look back on a year and reflect on the achievements. In looking back at 2024 on the farm I’ve realised that while I’m proud of what’s been done I really have no desire to go though it again. 2024 really has been a huge struggle, we’ve done tons (look at the list) but it’s taken a huge amount from me and I’ve probably dragged Dad though more change in one year since the late ‘60’s.
In this year we’ve:
Created LLP and trust (just in time)
Needed to be done to finalise the details of Grandpa’s legacy (and the associated legal timelines). Thanks to Mercer & Hole and Wilkin Chapman
Resolved the CFA and legacy profit share with our farm contractors
It’s great to work with Geoff and the team and I hope that we now move forward after some challenging times
Finalised the cottage rental
Great stuff from Lee (Handyman Group) and Ryan (Mulberries). Welcome to Brad and Leanne
Started the lodge refurbishment
Can’t say enough good things about Lee, Darren and the team engaged though the Handyman group. Discovering and removing the asbestos was certainly unexpected, without Lee’s tenacity and integrity I don’t know where we’d be.
Brewery, contract, electric, drainage, water
Once again The Handyman group to the rescue!! Thanks Lee. I’m now really looking forward to the future of our commercial partnership with Farrbrew!
Agreed investment funding/mortgage
Grateful for the AMC’s support here although the paperwork challenges were more than I expected
Well… Nearly… I’m pleased we’ve agreed a plan to replay and it’ll be done soon. The business is in a healthier place because of you all and I’m really grateful for your support and flexibility in getting though our challenges. I’m very grateful that you’ve trusted in the vision and process.
Agreed new partners, camping, glamping, bee keeping, dog training
Woohoo!! Can’t wait to see the progress and how we can build a community together! Thank you Steve, Tobi, Richard, Neil for investing your time and energy into our adventure
Restructured our agreement with the model airfield
Another great partner and one who adds a level of uniqueness and fun.
Agreed some cyclo-cross events
More unique events, I’m really interested in the potential course and publicity
Hosted an Overlanding event
And maybe a broader show this coming year? A great start from Steve and Tobi
Discussed potential sporting partnerships
Shhhh Matt and Jamie… speak too loudly and the dream might disappear? I think this idea could be the Stanbridge legacy…
Hosted the scouts camping
It’s great to host young people at the farm. I’m hoping we can support more groups like this
Installed Starlink
So much better than the combination of BT and EE. Thank you for sorting us out with the infrastructure Adam!
Attacked our standing costs
This feels like a never ending task… I’m getting into it now and starting to chase down our inflated overheads, step by step there is progress
Restructured our accounts
This time last year we were set up as a simple farm, now we’ve included commercial and residential lettings, non farming diversification and structured the expenses to better suit our contract farming arrangements. Lynn (M&H), I’m so sorry for the silly questions and so grateful for your support and guidance
Continued discussion with our housing partners
Ultimately it’s these discussions that started us on this journey. The support of John, Alistair and the team at Bloor has been amazing. It’s triggered some difficult conversations but without it we wouldn’t have moved forward at all
Started a blog…
I’m now flattered and surprised you’ve read this far!
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I’m hoping that by the end of February we will have wrapped up the legacy challenges of the business, cleared all debts and have the base of business on a footing where it is sustainable for the foreseeable future.
2025 can then be about looking forward and we have some amazing things coming including music and sporting events alongside our brewery partners, establishing our accomodation plans, seeing the progress of the dog training and airfield; also enjoying the fruits of our new workers (bees).
I imagine that Hemel Garden Communities may also start to have an impact on the local environment too…
I’ve really appreciated all the support I’ve had and the interest in these posts. I wonder if you were in my shoes what would you look to do next? Any suggestions?
This was my office for a good proportion of the day. I was mowing the park to release and spread the grass seeds to feed some of the winter birds and to make an area ready for the trials of the forthcoming dog training school (https://www.huskytailsuk.co.uk/htdogtraining).
Sitting on a tractor doing that sort of job is quite a therapeutic way of closing the year and reflecting on our achievements. We’ve come a long way in ’24 (post to follow) and while tractoring can be lonely it’s a good place to see direct, immediate progress and ultimately feel that skills are worthwhile.
During this moment of contemplation however I was treated to what felt like a reenactment of the Battle of Britain as 4 red kites vied for ariel supremacy around me. I absolutely failed to capture the moment but it was awesome.
The day was interspersed (as always) with conversations about the forthcoming housing development along with more discussions on our secret diversification opportunity.
All in all, nothing to report, but the Kites were amazing!!!
Don’t you find that various blogs and linked in posts emphasis the positives but not the struggles?
Well… Today’s emotion is best summed up with “Aaargh!!!”, you could also add a few four letter words to it.
I realise that farming is an industry that is only slowly embracing technology, I realise that that’s partly due to the increasing average age of farmers. I’m also aware that there is a huge amount of energy going into rural broadband, online services, accessibility etc. I think that we all need to embrace these things to genuinely make life easier and streamline processes.
Then you fall over an archaic process, one so stupid that the boundaries of a farmers vocabulary are put to the test.
So… To draw down the mortgage for the lodge refurb and pay some urgent bills I need to (even though told otherwise) physically sign the documents with Dad and post the results.
I live in Cambridge, the farm and Dad are in St Alban’s. They have already agreed the loan, the loan expires at the end of the year (even though they took 6 months to approve it).
Why on earth can’t we sign it separately and post? Even better why can’t we do it electronically?
I received this from Darren the builder this evening. It’s great to see progress, understand the space and to see how tidy they are keeping the site.
I didn’t expect the video and definitely didn’t expect the music.
It makes me think about the definition of a professional, is it simply someone who knows their stuff, or is it someone who you can relate to, someone who gives you energy and inspires you to take the next step.
Recieving this video (from a builder, a traditionally functional role) also highlights that you can make anything fun and with the right attitude can put a smile on people’s faces.
As professionals I think we all need to follow Darren’s example more, to make an effort to present things in a way that people can smile. Afterall, if he can make me smile with a video of a building site then surely I can do the same for my clients.
Stanbridge Farms 