Great Irish interest in farms

Members of the sales team from H & H Bowe Ltd recently undertook a three day visit to Northern Ireland. The event was jointly sponsored by H & H Bowe Ltd, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Williamson Henry Solicitors and saw three consecutive nights attract an audience of just over 300 people.

The events, entitled Farming in Scotland, were held at Newtownabbey, Coleraine and Dungannon with speakers from H & H Bowe Ltd, Royal Bank of Scotland, Williamson & Henry Solicitors, and Premier Woodlands.  The presentations lasted just over an hour and elicited a good response from the audience, who were made up of a wide cross section of the farming community spanning all generations.

Great interest: One of the meetings organised by H&H Bowe in Northern Ireland where there is interest in farms of all sizes and types in England and Scotland.

The first of the meetings was held in Newtownabbey and was chaired by Glyn Lucas, a native Irishman and auctioneer for H & H Farmstock.  David Thomlinson, also of H&H Farmstock chaired at Coleraine and Julie Liddle of H&H Bowe Ltd the final meeting at Dungannon.

With each of the three venues packed to bursting point, the meetings went from strength to strength and it soon became very clear to all that there was a lack of information and support available to farmers considering relocation. 

Alistair McMillan of H & H Bowe Ltd, gave a detailed talk concerning the procedures surrounding the process of offering for and the purchasing of farms in Scotland. Alistair's in depth knowledge of both the Northern Irish and Scottish farming industries was well received.

David Hall of Williamson & Henry Solicitors, gave a comprehensive but brief presentation about legal issues of land ownership in Scotland. After the hectic and exhilarating three days David concluded that, "the meetings demonstrated the continuing strong demand for good farms particularly in the arable and dairy sector." 

Roddy McLean, Alec Urquhart and Billy Greenhorn of the Royal Bank of Scotland jointly covered the meetings, giving the bank's perspective on the financial implications of investing in farms and farmland both within and outwith the province, and again were pleasantly surprised at the amount of interest and stimulating questions put to the speakers. 

With Andy Dyer of H & H Bowe Ltd and John Hetherington of Premier Woodlands offering information about the land based schemes and grants available, both had the total attention of the room and were able to conclude their presentations promptly.

The majority of time at each meeting was spent discussing matters on a one-to one basis with those seriously considering relocating.  The opportunity was also taken to check out the market availability and pass on individual requirements to the speakers.

Following the discussions between members of the sales team and the farmers in attendance, it became evident that there is considerable enthusiasm within the farming community in Northern Ireland to find larger units in England and Scotland.  Previously, interest from Northern Ireland buyers had been predominantly for dairy/livestock units of around 200 acres and primarily in south west Scotland.  Now the interest is for farms of all sizes, preferably 200 acres plus, in all areas and of all types.  Its not only working farms that the Irish farmers are in search of, business and development opportunities appear high on the list of requirements.  Land with investment potential is highly favoured, either to let under tenancy or to enter into contract farming arrangements in the longer term.

It was agreed by all speakers that for those individuals considering selling their farm, now maybe the time to take the decision given the obvious buoyancy within the market from a sellers point of view.  H & H Bowe Ltd has instructions from a number of clients to actively pursue potential sellers.

Below is a sample of some of the properties we are looking for:

Dairy units of 300-500 acres, Mixed livestock units of 300-400 acres, Mixed arable/livestock unit of 2000 acres, Arable unit of 1000 acres

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