Month: October 2020

Why should you finance your Agricultural Equipment?

30th October 2020 / admin / Comments Off

Richmond Asset Finance are dedicated to all your agricultural needs, including financing your farm machinery and agricultural equipment.

At Richmond Asset Finance we are dedicated to helping you invest in the productivity and future growth of your farm through good and bad times.

We provide you with easy to understand and affordable financing solutions that can be adapted to your circumstances. So whether you are an arable or livestock farmer, whether big or small, we have the financing solution for you.

We do more than simply provide financing, we build long-term relationships through trust.

Finance Lease

Although you never gain ownership of the equipment, a finance lease is similar to hire purchase in that you make regular fixed repayments over an agreed period, fully paying the cost of the equipment. A key difference though, is that VAT is payable on each lease payment rather than paying the full VAT due on the equipment at the outset of the agreement. At the end of the primary leasing period a nominal ‘secondary lease period’ annual payment is charged for continued use of the equipment. Alternatively you can arrange for the equipment to be sold to an unrelated third party for which you will receive the full sales proceeds.

Another key difference to the hire purchase option is that whilst you cannot claim capital allowances, you may be able to offset the lease repayments against any taxable profit.

You are responsible for the maintenance and insurance of the equipment.

Key benefits of Finance Lease:

The certainty of fixed term finance which can be withdrawn only if you do not keep to the terms and conditions of the contract.
The regular nature of repayments, and fixed interest rate, makes budgeting easier.
A cost effective way to fund your use of the equipment by spreading rentals over a fixed term.
Enhanced business cash flow with the ability to spread VAT across the life of the lease agreement.
A straightforward form of leasing which leaves you in a position to control the used equipment value.

Tip for farm crime prevention

22nd October 2020 / admin / Comments Off

When winter is approaching and clocks go back an hour as British Summer Time officially ends, it is a good time for farmers to review their security.

Farms in the autumn and winter months are dark and secluded places and can prove an inviting target for thieves who will be looking to steal farm vehicles, fuel, tools and equipment.

Statistically, October and November are the two months of the year when police receive more reports of burglary than at any other time.

With their isolated countryside locations, farmhouses, outbuildings, barns, garages and sheds are all prey for would-be rural thieves, who use modern technology including drones, Google Earth and sat navs to pinpoint their entry and escape routes.

But there are a variety of measures you can take to protect your property, land and livestock and discourage potential thieves.

Fuel

Fuel thieves often target farms under the cover of darkness when they are able to drain tanks within minutes if they are not properly protected.

Thieves use anything from basic plastic tubes to pumping apparatus to siphon off hundreds of litres of red diesel from tanks and farm machinery, causing huge financial loss and inconvenience for farmers.

Tip

To prevent theft, fit fuel bowsers with wheel clamps or hitch locks. Tanks should be housed in a secure location – within a shed (in line with regulations) or in a compound, such as a locked metal cage.

Consider fitting a remote fuel monitoring gauge and alarm system. Install movement sensors, CCTV and lighting around the tank.

Store machinery inside sheds using layers of security and ensure tractors are locked up at night. If machines must be kept outside, park with fuel caps against a fence or wall.

Lighting and CCTV cameras

Isolated farm buildings down dark lanes are easy for thieves to approach and hide in the darkness. Make sure you light up areas in and around your home and buildings.

Tip

Motion-sensor security lighting and CCTV cameras are a good crime prevention and detection tool. Thieves don’t want to be seen.

Install lighting and CCTV in access locations, vulnerable areas and around the perimeter of farm buildings, yards and houses. Consider audible and monitored intruder alarm systems.

With improving technology in this area and a reduction in the cost of CCTV systems, they can be bought for fairly modest sums. Many suppliers offer subscription services with text alert systems linked to mobile phones, tablets or computers, allowing you to monitor the farm 24/7 from anywhere in the world.

Farmers are embracing new technology involving infrared beams that set off voice warning systems and relay live footage to mobile phones.

UK farmers call for EU workers to bypass Covid quarantine

15th October 2020 / admin / Comments Off

An article in The Guardian newspaper has reported that there is likely to be a Christmas turkey shortage if EU workers not allowed in to work in British Poultry farms.

Poultry farmers are urging the government to lift travel restrictions to allow hundreds of specialist EU turkey pluckers to fill jobs in the UK, with a warning that there could be a shortage of birds or higher prices if the restrictions are not waived.

The proposed exemption would cover at least 1,000 seasonal workers who normally travel from Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia at the end of October to help slaughter, pluck and prepare birds destined for UK Christmas dinner tables. It says workers with typical two-month contracts will not come if they have to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival, even if they are provided with Covid-secure accommodation and “work bubbles”.

With lockdown forcing smaller festive gatherings, farmers are finding it difficult to predict consumer demand, and there are fears that larger birds will be out of favour.

Chicks – or poults – typically ordered in February grace the Christmas dinner table as fully grown birds the following year. According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), between January and June 2020 there were 6.2m poults being reared on farms, compared with 6.1m in the same period in 2019.

Intensive meat processing plants have already fallen victim to outbreaks of Covid-19. A thousand staff at Bernard Matthews’ facility in Holton, Suffolk, have been tested after 72 colleagues were found to be Covid-19 positive.

Considering a bridging loan?

3rd October 2020 / admin / Comments Off

If you are considering applying for a bridging funding, here are some helpful tips:

Compare products from different providers and be certain of the total cost of the loan, rather than just the interest rate. It’s tempting to go for the lowest interest rate, but lenders may charge large exit fees, fund management fees and other hidden costs. Always ask for a breakdown of the total cost before proceeding as this makes it much easier to evaluate different providers. Richmond Asset Finance are completely transparent and will always advise you.
When you are looking for a provider, make sure that the lender knows your timescales and check that they can deliver on time – don’t be afraid to ask questions and don’t waste your time with a provider which won’t be able to deliver.
The amount of money that you can borrow as a bridging loan can vary widely between applicants and is dependent upon several factors. These include the type of property being purchased/renovated/converted; the value of the property; the loan term and interest rate offered by the lender; and your security and proposed exit strategy.
You will need to inform your lender about the property, as it is this that is used to secure the loan (the sale of which is your exit strategy for the loan repayment); having an exit strategy in place is crucial to avoid running into difficulty.
The repayment terms can often be amended to suit you, however, you are usually required to pay back the loan within a year. The application process is typically far simpler than for other types of borrowing and applications can complete very quickly, usually in five to 14 days.