Yorkshire farms praise agricultural bank after loans enable expansion

One farmer in Northallerton said he was able to build a small housing estate for staff on his farm after taking on a loan from the bank.

Chris Spence of Lowfield Farm built an estate consisting of three three-bedroom homes, a two-bedroom house and six apartments, alongside his own family home on his 250-acre site.

The building of the accommodation followed investment from Oxbury, which also supplied funding for a new parlour and cow shed.

Mr Spence also has plans to build new calf accommodation, office space and a training room.

He said: “Most of my staff have never worked in agriculture before but I don’t think you need to. I think it all comes down to the heart and the character of the person. So that's why I want to build an atmosphere of nice people where we can just have a nice life.

“We’ve got people from all over the world that work here, as well as local people, so we’ve got lots of different languages. It’s a good opportunity with nice accommodation and good working hours.

“Cows will pick up on stress. We’ve always had a passion for looking after our cows and making sure they’re comfortable and have the right nutrition. And a relaxed staff team reflects on them too. If you look after the people, they will look after the cows. Look after the cows, and they will look after you.”

Lowfield farm has also increased the number of cows it is able to milk after its loan from Oxbury.

The business is today milking 1,100 cows, with a further 1,400 head of youngstock, up from around 800 previously.

Oxbury is the UK’s only dedicated agricultural technology bank. The firm is based in Chester, but has a growing presence across Yorkshire.

On Oxbury’s NewGen product – where the firm will lend 100 per cent of the required cashflow to new entrants in to the industry – five of the 47 accounts to date are in Yorkshire

Richard Grainger of Mirefold Farm in Bedale, which was also given a loan from Oxbury Bank, said: “We have been able to expand our business and numbers of stock on various units across the country with the assistance of Mark Pearson from Oxbury Bank.

“We asked Oxbury to review our existing banking arrangements, this was due to frustration of high street banks not being able to react quick enough to our rapidly growing farming business. Following a farm visit and discussion, it resulted in us deciding to completely restructure our lending with Oxbury including a livestock funding facility.

“The livestock funding facility has allowed us to increase our cattle numbers and add flexibility to the business.

"Without Oxbury’s involvement and knowledge of the increasing value of cattle and input costs this would not have been achievable.

Northern Lavender, another Oxbury New Gen customer, has also been able to fund the purchase of a specialised Forged Harvester for lavender after receiving a loan from the bank.

The company has targeted its first mechanical harvest for July of this year.