Oh, well, they must all be about to go bust then. Some contractors will have gone in a bit too hard or have tricky clients and/or agents. Maybe the relationship has broken down. There are lots of contractors in here - perhaps they would like to state if they have ever lost clients over the years?
Farm Management companies..... the way forwards?
- Thread starter BazzerT
- Start date
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
You're right, they won't find the skilled labour today. The reason being, the same estates laid off that skilled labour, got rid of livestock and rented out the cottages to townies for second homes in the country
, most of which followed those estates getting in the big land agency companies (being careful not to name names) to do a review and advise on 'efficiency'. It usually happens when a younger, cash hungry, generation inherit control of those estates. I've seen it happen across many Cotswold estates, a lot of which have big chunks of marginal land which, without subsidies, would only ever run sheep & beef enterprises. No problem, they can always put some more pheasant cover down,....
- Location
- Fife
Lots of estates like that near me. They have dumped their lambing flocks and run dry mule ewe lambs to eat grass and claim subs. Off the top of my head there are 10,000 mule ewe lambs within a 20 min drive of me. It does make me wonder, who the f ck buys all these mules?
I was once told that in a certain part of the UK that local farmers had a different name for Farmcare.
Allegedly they became known in the locality as "Don't care"
SillyPhily
Member
- Location
- Wexford, Ireland
Word for word what happened an estate I worked on as a student.You mean they released capital tied up in depreciating assets?
Would these be the same farms that have been running all arable for a few years, got into trouble with blackgrass and now will have to spend a fortune if they want to get back into mixed farming with livestock? I'm sure a wise consultant will be able to advise them how to do so shortly.
Courier
Member
- Location
- M62 - M1 - M18 triangle
A true Thatcherite concept if ever there was one - The decision to raise capital by selling off the country's water, electricity and other utilities was not her finest hour.
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
Starting a war as a distraction to domestic issues rates up there as well . . .
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
You mean when tory defence minister john knott cut the naval presence in the south atlantic in 1981 , giving the green light to argentina to invade the falklands?
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
They should all be arrested for crimes against the countryside.
Ahh the big business farmers, showing us lifestyle ( despite also paying rent), farmers, how to do it.
Take short cuts, then wonder why farms are smothered in black grass and then need chaps to do cultivations 24/7 to try and get rid.
- Location
- Fife
Or the sexing up of a dossier on WMD? Or the implementation of PFIs?
Tony Blair, the 2nd most Thatcherite Prime Minister in the history of the UK... I really would like to see him hang.
KMA
Member
- Location
- Dumfriesshire
Absolute f**king plague and should be shot at birth as should those who bring them in. If you can't manage the place yourself then sell it! It's gonna happen anyway.
Used to neighbour a large well run profitable estate that had a well diversified business. Old fella died and the family brought one of these bunch of asset strippers in whole lot stripped out and sold within 15yrs. Same bunch of clowns are currently working through another estate next to where I now live. The pattern of asset stripping is pretty well routine and you can tell when it's happening and what stage it's at.
Used to neighbour a large well run profitable estate that had a well diversified business. Old fella died and the family brought one of these bunch of asset strippers in whole lot stripped out and sold within 15yrs. Same bunch of clowns are currently working through another estate next to where I now live. The pattern of asset stripping is pretty well routine and you can tell when it's happening and what stage it's at.
Traffic dodger
Member
Do not think farming alone has this sort of thing. What ever the business the management company has to raise money to justify its costs. Goes on everywhere.
- Location
- Fife
The difference being other businesses don't have the cushion of direct subsidy.
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
Thats like a farmer buying a rolls royce, then running the farm down to make the hp payments
- Location
- Suffolk
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
What reasons are there to pull out, apart from "trouble"?
- Location
- Suffolk
Its not appropriate to talk about that exact case on a public forum but like any business, sometime's its better to pull back from one part in order to focus more time and resources on another part that has the potential to do much better. Anyone in the area mentioned above knows that one of the companies has now taken on a much bigger piece of land anyway.
It was inferred that just because a company chooses to walk away from an agreement or farm etc that they have been forced to because they're in financial trouble
BELOWAVERAGE
Member
If ever there was a thread where rubbish was talked this is it, how many of you chaps could do the job, not many of you as your all sat on your @rse reading this, and some of you would run a mile at the very idea of working that hard or for that matter breaking a sweat, SOME of these outfits do a very good job..
- Location
- Suffolk
On the ground these companies definitely require a lot from managers to make things work and they work very hard to meet demands with tight resources.
In the case of the pure management companies like Velcourt they only exist because people pay for them and create a demand, so if people want to complain, go to the landowners that employ them!