The recent NFU Tenants Conference and the TFA Tenants Conference, reminded Tony Rimmer, Director of Rostons, how important the Tenanted Sector is to British agriculture.
All too often, Tenants are seen as the poor relation in the hierarchy of farmers but there are many fantastic examples of Tenants achieving very high levels of business growth and results.
A key issue in Tony’s view is that when we talk about the Tenanted Sector, do we actually mean those on different occupational arrangements? The opportunities given to businesses to expand are not only just from the traditional Tenancy but also from other forms of farming arrangement such as contract farming and share farming.
The current tax regime is undoubtedly leading to more agreements that involve co-operation between the Landlord and occupier such as contract and share farming. With all agreements one key issue is that the land provider and the occupier should see it as a joint arrangement for mutual benefit this is all too often forgotten by either party.
Sitting as an Arbitrator as well as being involved acting for either party on disputes, Tony says it is sad to see how many times a dispute could be resolved if only communication was improved between the parties. As with everything in this world, be it running your own business in whichever sector, one’s personal life and in sports teams, communication is often the key factor that is over looked.
Thank you to the NFU and the TFA for arranging two fantastic conferences. Tony would urge that all those in the Tenanted Sector to attend these conferences in the future.