Do your due diligence when choosing finance options

Simon and his family had diversified their own lives by moving from central Edinburgh to a smallholding 15 minutes away in the Pentland Hills.

The property’s stable block, riding arena and 30 acres of grazing were ideal for their horses, and they’d soon established a commercial livery yard.

“But we knew the income wouldn’t be enough,” says Simon, “so we decided on a glamping business. We looked at chalets and pods but fell in love with shepherd’s huts.”

Simon contacted Norfolk firm Black Sheep Shepherd’s Huts and chose five units – but, he comments: “We needed to fund them without tying up our cash or assets. They recommended some finance companies, and it became immediately clear Rural Asset Finance was head and shoulders above the rest.”

‘A breath of fresh air’

Simon had previously suffered bad experiences getting his farm mortgage. He said: “Firms kept saying it wouldn’t be a problem, but it always was”.

He was adamant that for the huts at first, so he needed a lender he could trust. As soon as he spoke to Rural Asset Finance CEO Matthew Smart, he was convinced.

Simon said: “I loved his whole approach – he knew what he was talking about, understood what we wanted to do and could get things done simply and quickly. I got a warm, fuzzy feeling Rural Asset Finance would make it happen.”

Once given the go-ahead, Matthew arranged a hire purchase facility secured on the new huts themselves, split into two parts: a refinance of the first hut they’d just bought, to replace Pentland’s cashflow, and a second facility to fund 90% of the purchase price of the other four huts – fixed over five years to enable accurate budgeting of the site outgoings.

“Matthew was a breath of fresh air,” says Simon. “We’re pleased with the rate and love the fluidity. When there were hurdles, RAF always offered a simultaneous solution. Matthew might say ‘our credit team need this, but we can satisfy it doing this’.

“When he said we’d get the funds in the afternoon, Black Sheep called confirming they’d received the money to go ahead. Rural Asset Finance did everything they promised, exactly when they promised.”

Simon hopes his huts will accommodate visitors from April and is planning a further five.

He also intends to buy pig weaners to fatten and sell the meat directly to farm shops “or offer our shepherds’ hut guests sausages and bacon for their breakfast.”

Simon also has another diversification plan, which includes the purchase of 500 photovoltaic panels with RAF’s help.

Supporting brilliant ideas

Rural Asset Finance CEO Matthew Smart said that the team was “delighted” to help Simon.

“Our team have decades of experience living and working on farms, so we know exactly how challenging the way of life can be – and how that can affect cash flow. Unexpected things do happen, all the time, and we completely understand that, and that every single farm business has its own unique set of circumstances.

“That’s why we try so hard to get to know our customers, to build up relationships with them and talk through solutions that work for their individual business. And if people, like Simon, have a brilliant idea, whether it’s to extend traditional food production or diversify into a new revenue stream, we always want to find a way to make it work for them,” he continued.

Simon said that whatever he does next, he knows how he’ll fund it. He added: “Rural Asset Finance just ‘gets’ what we’re doing. They go above and beyond. They understand, they’re friendly, efficient, they find solutions and everything’s inhouse.

“With some lenders it’s so stressful, especially when they just don’t seem to understand or are even interested in what you’re doing.

“But our experience with Rural Asset Finance is the opposite of that. You feel like they’re cheering you on, they really want all of this to work. I feel they’re on my side.”

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