Associate Partner, Kate Mason, based at our Chester office, has been invited to speak at this year’s Farm Business Innovation Show which is part of the Land, Leisure & Tourism Show 2024. The show brings together a range of industries to provide inspiration, opportunities, and innovation to empower businesses to make decisions for the future. The show provides a unique platform for landowners and farmers, rural businesses, entrepreneurs, and country house owners to find the inspiration, resources, and advice they need to diversify, innovate, and generate additional income from their land and property assets.
Kate Mason’s seminar will be in the Seminar Theatre from 1.45pm to 2.15pm on 6 November and will highlight the importance of a strategic and collaborative approach to the future planning and management of your assets. Kate will use case studies and examples to show how a strategic review can help your business model now, and for many generations to come.
Kate, an expert in our Strategic Asset Consultancy team, and rural property management team said: “We are advising rural business and property owners of the importance of strategic planning to ensure they are resilient to the increasing number of financial challenges relating to legislative and regulatory changes as well as personal reasons.
“To sustain businesses for future generations we are advising farmers and landowners to consider conducting strategic reviews of their businesses to understand the current position of the business to prepare and plan for business resilience and protection of assets.
“These reviews highlight and analyse the opportunities available for individual properties and entire portfolios and enable property owners to be proactive rather than reactive about changes to put themselves in the best possible position for the future.
“There is a huge amount of financial uncertainty currently being faced by farmers and landowners.
“They are not only experiencing a loss in income as the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) continues to be phased out, but there are several other unknowns which could have major financial implications in the near future, and it is clear that rural property and business owners need to make strategic decisions now to future-proof their businesses.
“The current trend we are seeing is that many people are waiting for changes to be implemented before acting, but we are advising farmers, landowners and rural property owners to plan for the future. One of the most robust ways of doing this is looking at how to maximise the value of existing assets based on where business owners want to be in the next 10 to 20 years.”
Tom Beeley, a Senior Associate in our rural property management team, said: “Agricultural businesses have faced much change in recent years from both policy and external influences with fluctuations in farm incomes. Many farm businesses are having to consider alternative ways to generate additional sources of stable income. We are encouraging landowners to find out more about opportunities with natural capital markets as alternative sources of income. Many farmers and landowners will have explored renewable energy in the past, but innovation, reductions in technology costs as well as changes to energy costs and markets means opportunities continue to emerge. Fisher Germans teams will be on hand at the show to provide the latest updates and share their experience of these diversification opportunities.
Laura Jane Taylor, our Senior Marketing Manager, said “The show also provides a great platform to network, and we look forward to talking to both existing and new clients again. It will be great to offer advice and promote our wide range of services. The seminar will provide an update on our natural capital work, and we will share our learnings and thoughts from being at the forefront of an evolving market over the last few years. We will have experts on hand to advise on biodiversity net gain, nutrient neutrality, soil carbon, and how legislation and policy change can impact, but also provide an opportunity for, landowners.”
Find us on stand 329 at the Land, Leisure and Tourism Show.
