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Yellow Plant Finance for you

2nd December 2021 / admin / Comments Off

We understand that plant equipment, tools and machines can be expensive, so sometimes businesses need help with finance for specific assets or to give them additional funds that can help with business expansion or just to ease their cashflow.

As an independent business, Richmond Asset Finance understands the needs of other businesses. Like you, our business is unique. If we were looking for business finance we would expect our finance arrangements to be looked at individually to ensure that we got the best available package for us.

We work closely with a number of carefully selected, specialist lenders, that can help you with the right asset or working capital finance for your business.

New or used plant, machinery or machine tools are often the sign of expansion, and we know that you’ll need to be up and running as quickly as possible. With this in mind we maintain a quick turnaround for you to ensure that it’s not only the right finance that you need but allows you to get the finance you need, when you need it.

Best Selling Tractor Brands in the UK

25th November 2021 / admin / Comments Off

John Deere is still the most popular tractor brand in the UK.

However, second-placed New Holland did manage to narrow the void between the two slightly, selling 88 more tractors than it did in 2013 to get to a figure of 2,645.

Third placed Massey Ferguson had an equally good year, shifting an extra 83 machines, as did its sister brand Fendt, which upped sales by 57 to move into fifth place behind Case-IH.

There was less to celebrate in the Claas camp, though. It dropped a massive 195 sales from 2013 to 2014 and was overtaken by Fendt in the overall rankings. Deutz Fahr also dropped 73 sales down to 298, putting it perilously close to 10th-placed McCormick on 288.

Overall, the market picked up slightly from a total of 13,490 in 2013 to 13,526 in 2014, but this was still a lot lower than the 14,964 that farmers bought in 2012.

Different Types of Real Christmas Tree

17th November 2021 / admin / Comments Off

No Needle Drop’ Nordmann Fir

The Nordmann Fir is a tough tree with thick, soft glossy needles that are dark green on the top and blue-green on the underside. It is renowned for holding onto its needles the best of all the different types of Christmas tree, meaning you won’t need to worry about putting the vacuum clearer into regular use during the festive period! For this reason the Nordmann is a good choice, particularly if you’ll be positioning your tree a bit closer to a radiator or open fire than would be ideal.

Traditional Norway Spruce

Norway Spruce is the traditional Christmas tree which has been popular since Victoria times with short and thin, varying bright and deep green pointed needles. It has a more triangular shape than other varieties with attractive red-brown bark, a rich coniferous fragrance, broad base and bushy habit. As the best value type of Christmas tree available, the Norway Spruce had been the single most popular variety in Europe for some time, but was recently overtaken by no needle drop varieties such as the Nordmann Fir.

Serbian Spruce

The Serbian or Omorika Spruce is one of the newer types of Christmas tree on the market, with a more slender shape than other types of tree, making it perfect for smaller homes, porches or corridors. Its needles are similar to the Norway spruce but flatter and soft with a bluey hue and almost white undersides. The branches are slightly drooping yet well spaced, making decorating easy with sprays pointing upwards at the ends. Needle retention is better than the Norway Spruce but not as good as the Nordmann Fir, so again we recommend buying your Serbian Spruce in mid-later December to reduce the amount of needle drop before Christmas. The Omorika Spruce boasts a pleasant, strong fragrance and works well with a simple scheme of plain lights spun around the tree from top to bottom.

Alberta White Spruce

A lovely, compact, slow growing conifer which makes the perfect mini Christmas tree with dense branches and a bluey hue. The Alberta White Spruce has its origin in North America but found its way to England around the 1700s. It has a conical form making it ideal to use as a large table top or windowsill tree. Supplied pot grown with a good chance of planting out after Christmas if you choose to have it indoors to start. After Christmas the Alberta White Spruce can be kept in the container but put outdoors in a sunny spot or, alternatively, planted at the front of a border or in the rock garden

North Yorkshire Dairy Farm expands with funding

12th November 2021 / admin / Comments Off

A North Yorkshire dairy farm is set to double capacity with the opening of a new warehouse, supported by six-figure funding from Lloyds Bank.

Town Head Farm in Grassington is a family-owned milk producer and distributor, led by David Oversby, grandson of founder William Oversby.

It sells milk and juices to wholesalers, caterers and supermarkets, as well as to regional doorstop sellers across Yorkshire and the North West from its production site at the foot of the Yorkshire Dales. The dairy’s 80-strong team also supplies milk to schools and NHS hospital trusts.

The £14m-turnover business has been boosted by growing demand for doorstop milk deliveries, and the team recognised the need to increase production capacity to meet demand and drive growth.

The £800,000 loan Lloyds Bank is being used to support the purchase of new equipment, including a glass bottling line and bottle washing machine.

Paul Mason, commercial director at Town Head Farm, said: “Dales Dairies is a third-generation family business, and we are always looking for new ways to supply the highest quality products and create local jobs in Yorkshire. The pandemic generated huge demand for doorstop deliveries, which looks set to continue, and our expanded site with more efficient equipment gives us the room to grow to meet that demand.

“This marks the second time that the team at Lloyds Bank have supported our growth ambitions, after helping us with the initial purchase of our Keighley site. We are now in a position to unlock a new phase of growth at Town Head, serving even more customers across the North of England and helping to support the regional dairy farmers who supply our milk.”

Alexandra Butterworth, relationship director at Lloyds Bank, added: “We’ve worked with David and the team at Town Head Farm for many years now, and it has been so rewarding to watch the business go from strength to strength. They have emerged from a challenging 18 months stronger than ever, seeking out new ways to grow and adapting to changing consumer behaviour.”

Richmond Asset Finance can help you and your business expand or give it the boost you need in order to increase your revenue or help you to expand as a business.

Contact us today

Hire purchase machinery and vehicle finance

2nd November 2021 / admin / Comments Off

Hire purchase spreads the cost of buying equipment.

Keeping your farm business running efficiently often means investing in additional vehicles, equipment or machinery.

Flexible packages help you get on with business

Hire Purchase lets you spread the cost of a capital asset over a fixed term, enabling you to use some of the revenue the item generates to fund its purchase.

This helps boost your cash flow as you’ll not have to pay outright for major investments which may otherwise slow down your growth, diversification or consolidation plans.

Buy new and used vehicles and farm equipment from £15,000 – including tractors, combines, balers, sprayers, telehandlers, feed mixer wagons, grain drying equipment, beet harvesters, pea viners, egg graders, slurry spreaders, trailers, automated parlours, commercial vehicles and more.
Hire Purchase can help with the cost of biomass boilers, the financing of balloon payments and also VAT deferments.
Pay the initial deposit that suits your needs and choose a repayment period of between one and five years.
Repay monthly or seasonally to suit your cash flow with competitive interest rates.

UK-first sustainable farming school launched

26th October 2021 / admin / Comments Off

A UK-first school seeking to help farmers adopt regenerative methods of agriculture has launched at Harper Adams University.

The School of Sustainable Food and Farming is the first of its type in the UK, with courses covering livestock, soil health and biodiversity.

In the UK, agricultural production is currently responsible for 10 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions.

Harper Adams University says the school will play a part in realising the government’s new ‘green’ agriculture policy, unveiled in November last year.

Based in Newport, Shropshire, courses will be designed using the work on sustainable farming and food production by the university.

They will cover topics including carbon sequestration, the potential of green energy production on farms – including anaerobic digestion plants, and understanding the value of carbon. In addition, on-farm learning with tutors will take place.

The courses will be run by the UK’s leading experts in agronomy, veterinary practice and nutrition.

They will include undergraduate courses to train new sustainable farmers, short courses and apprenticeships to upskill the current farming workforce as well research posts.

The school has been launched in collaboration with supermarket Morrisons, foodservice outlet McDonald’s UK, and the National Farmers Union.

Farmers Protest outside Tory Conference

12th October 2021 / admin / Comments Off

Farmers protested outside the Tory Party Conference amid the current labour crisis.

Pig producers have staged a protest outside the Conservative Party Conference after Boris Johnson played down the prospect of a mass cull of pigs due to a shortage of plant staff.

A group of farmers gathered outside the Manchester conference on Monday morning (4th October) to raise awareness of the industry’s ongoing struggles with finding an available workforce and the possibility of having to cull thousands of healthy pigs.

Producers are now seeing a backlog of well over 120,000 pigs on farms, with many quickly running out of space and many more at or close to the limit.

The labour crisis due to COVID-19 and Brexit at processing plants has resulted in a slowing down of the throughput of British pigs through plants, which is adding to the already severe backlog of pigs on farms.

The prime minister has blamed the pig industry for the staff shortages in abattoirs for not paying enough or creating attractive working conditions.

The Prime Minister has been accused of disregarding the possible pig cull

5th October 2021 / admin / Comments Off

Farming groups have been left ‘shocked and dismayed’ after Boris Johnson played down the prospect of a mass cull of pigs due to a shortage of plant staff.

The prime minister made the comments on Sunday’s Andrew Marr show when questioned on the pig sector’s ongoing problems, and the likely move toward a mass cull of healthy animals.

Producers are seeing a backlog of well over 120,000 pigs on farms, with many quickly running out of space and many more at or close to the limit. The sis due to the labour shortage at processing plants and has slowed down the throughput of pigs through plants causing a severe backlog of pigs on many farms across the UK.

On 4th October, pig producers stages a protest outside the Conservative Party Conference to raise awareness of the sectors struggles at this time. The prime minister responded with a statement suggesting the Home Office were looking into solutions for the current labour shortage.

UK retailers and supermarket chains have also been asked to help the beleaguered sector, by purchasing more British pork.

Richmond Asset Finance Agricultural Finance

5th October 2021 / admin / Comments Off

Richmond Asset Finance is a specialist business lender to the agricultural sector that offers traditional, responsible lending to farmers throughout England, Scotland and Wales.

Our team knows rural property and rural businesses, the many challenges they face, but also their appeal. We visit all our potential borrowers before making a loan and have a very responsive underwriting process that works quickly and reliably.

Our team at Richmond Asset Finance understand how to craft a business loan against agricultural property where a ‘one size fits all’ doesn’t work and pride ourselves on working with the leading experts in agricultural valuation, security and restructuring to ensure swift informed and fair decisions.

As a principle lender too many businesses and agricultural businesses across the UK we always act with integrity and delivering on time, every time. We have a pragmatic and flexible approach, with borrowers able to talk directly to the lending decision makers.

Our loans have helped farmers diversify, acquire more land, build renewable energy projects, helped them restructure, buy more livestock, help families with generational transfer and provide tenant farmers capital to purchase their farm.

5,500 poultry workers to get temporary visas

8th September 2021 / admin / Comments Off

As well as poultry workers, the government confirmed over the weekend that 5,000 fuel tanker and food lorry drivers will be eligible to work in the UK for three months.

The growing labour crisis has resulted in empty shelves in supermarkets and, in some cases, food left on farms unable to be picked up or processed.

The visas have been requested on a COVID recovery basis to alleviate labour shortages.

NFU vice president Tom Bradshaw said the union welcomed the government’s new announcement, but said more solution would be needed for ‘wider labour needs’.

He said: “The NFU has worked with the wider industry to help evidence the needs of the sector and we look forward to working with government on applying the scheme for poultry and, in particular, access for smaller producers.

“We will also continue to work with government to find solutions for the wider labour needs, including trained and able butchers for pork production to deal with the increasingly serious build-up of pigs on farm and the risk of welfare issues.”

The organisations behind this week’s letter called for measures including a 12-month Covid Recovery Visa which they say would enable the supply chain to recruit critical roles as a short-term response to labour shortages.

Government commitment is also needed to a ‘revised and expanded’ Seasonal Worker Scheme for UK horticulture, to ensure it is flexible and large enough to meet workforce needs.

Finally, the groups urge the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the impact of ending free movement on the food and farming sector, in the same way it is doing for adult social care.

World’s largest vertical farm starts construction in UK

5th September 2021 / admin / Comments Off

A new multi-million pound vertical farm being built in Gloucestershire will offer 148,000sq ft of growing space, making it the ‘world’s largest’ facility of its type.

The farm will be approximately the same size as almost 70 tennis courts and able to supply 1,000 tonnes of fresh produce to UK supermarkets.

Jones Food Company (JFC), owner of Europe’s largest vertical farm near Scunthorpe, has broken ground on the new project.

The Lyndey-based facility, dubbed JFC2, will open in early 2022, the company confirmed.

Mr Lloyd-Jones believes that with the current labour shortage and bare supermarket shelves, vertical farming is a vital part of the UK’s farming future.

His company has an ambitious plan to be able to supply 70% of the UK’s fresh produce within the next ten years.

Vertical farming is the process of growing plants indoors under controlled conditions in a series of stacked layers.

Rather than using sunlight, like in a glasshouse, many of these urban farms are reliant on LED light which is adjusted dependent on the growth stage and crop type.

Techniques such as soil free growing are typically used in vertical farms, whilst chemical treatments are rarely applied because of the tightly controlled conditions, with lighting, irrigation, fertigation, and climate all being precisely adjusted.

“It allows us to grow entirely without pesticides and using 95% less water. And it means we can significantly reduce the air and road miles of the foods we grow.”

But vertical farming doesn’t just make environmental sense, it makes economic sense too, Mr Lloyd-Jones believes.

Production of CO2 to restart amid fears of food shortage in UK

4th August 2021 / admin / Comments Off

The UK government has agreed a deal with US company, CF Industries, to restart CO2 production after high gas prices forced it to stop production, threatening food shortages.

In exchange for CF Fertilisers allowing the company to immediately restart operations the government will provide financial support towards the firm’s operating costs for 3 weeks ‘whilst the CO2 market adapts to global gas prices’.

Both the farming and food industries have warned that the public could begin to see gaps on supermarket shelves within days if there is no intervention in its supply. This is because gas is a vital element to the existence and maintenance of these industries.

For example, the livestock sector uses the gas in the slaughter process, packaging and chilling stages of meat production. The British Poultry Council (BPC) has warned that if there was to be any interruption in any of these stages then the supply of meat would be brought to a halt.

However, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has somewhat diminished fears surrounding imminent shortages. He suggested that this agreement will ensure that many of the critical industries that rely on a stable supply of CO2 have the resources they require to avoid any form of disruption.

That said, the British Meat Processors Association has said that this crisis has only served to highlight that the British food supply chain is ‘at the mercy of a small number of major fertiliser producers’.

Perhaps then there is a growing demand for greater diversity in the market in order to avoid such crisis in the future.

Fast Farm Loans

27th July 2021 / admin / Comments Off

Fast farm Loans available from Richmond Asset Finance.

We often speak to farms needing to replace equipment, develop property, or settle bills to continue their business activities. The challenge we often hear is how they can access the necessary finance. The banks usually ask for a multitude of information and many lenders do not appreciate the cyclical nature of farming businesses. This is where Richmond Asset Finance can help.

If you need access to immediate finance for your farm this is a fast and competitive option.

Why choose a fast farm loan from Richmond Asset Finance?

You’ve just paid your staff, you are still waiting for that major client to settle their account and a large bill has just arrived on your desk.

When a number of circumstances conspire at any one given time this can cause even the most stable of farms to encounter cashflow problems, not to mention worry for you as the business owner.

Unfortunately this is not uncommon, but help is at hand.

If your farm needs emergency finance our fast farm loans can help you pay unexpected bills, bridge a cashflow gap, and get your farm back on track.

Speak to Richmond Asset Finance today and we will be able to help you with your farm finance requirements.

Tractor Finance UK

5th July 2021 / admin / Comments Off

Asset Finance focused on you from Richmond Asset Finance

We know how important it is for your business to have access to the right equipment and machinery. But we also know that it can be difficult to purchase these vital resources without making a significant dent in your working capital. Our Asset Finance department at Richmond Asset Finance can help you find the right solution for you and your business. We offer a comprehensive range of finance options, flexible repayment terms and competitive rates.

What is Asset Finance?

Asset Finance is a loan that you can take out to buy or hire assets that your business requires to succeed. This can cover a wide range of equipment, but in agriculture this is primarily machinery.

How will Asset Finance help my business?

Asset finance is an alternative way of purchasing equipment, rather than borrowing from your bank. You can start using the asset straight away without having to find a large lump sum to put down, and you can pay back the cost of the machine over a flexible repayment plan that suits your business cash flow. Put the machine to work straight away and it is starting to payback its cost.

There are a number of types of asset finance contracts some will suit your business more than others. These include:

Hire Purchase

Hire Purchase agreements involve you paying an initial deposit followed by fixed term instalments for the agreed term of the loan after which the asset becomes yours. Instalments are arranged to suit your cash flow, eg, monthly, quarterly or annually.

Finance Lease

This is very similar to hire purchase but the VAT is paid on the instalments rather than in full up front. The customer does not automatically own the asset at the end of the agreement.

Commercial Funding from Richmond Asset Finance

9th June 2021 / admin / Comments Off

Commercial Funding is a type of finance solution which is catered towards commercial enterprises rather than individuals. It can also be referred to as ‘Business Finance’ or ‘Business Funding’.

If a business is looking to expand without heavily impacting on cash flow, commercial funding could be a viable option. At Richmond Asset Finance, we have built long-term relationships with several providers. As a result, we can offer tailored financial solutions that suit companies’ specific requirements.

Through experience, our expert team can simplify the funding process. We can provide a bespoke service for each business because we work closely with companies to understand their needs and circumstances. We put our clients’ needs first to provide the best advice and the right type of funding.

Types Of Commercial Funding

There are several different types of commercial funding, each one has its own specifications, so it’s important for companies to choose one which works best for them. Commercial loans are more suited to large organisations.

The different types of commercial funding vary significantly. They are mainly split by whether or not they require security or collateral.

Commercial Loans

When it comes to commercial funding, a commercial loan is usually the simplest solution for companies. It works like most loans with a company making regular repayments of an agreed amount for a specified period of time. Interest rates and additional fees will also be agreed on.

Commercial loans are broken down into Secure and Insecure:

Secured Loans

Usually cheaper as the lender is taking a lower risk
Use company assets as security

Unsecured Loans

Generally more expensive
Ideal for companies which don’t have assets to use as security.