Forget the emotions and make your succession succeed
In May we decided to face our succession plan head on.
This was incentivised through applying for the Young Farmer Scheme as part of our Basic Payment Scheme application, where, if the majority shareholder in the business is under 40, a 25 per cent BPS uplift can be claimed on the first 90 hectares for a five year period.
Being a Common Agricultural Policy measure, it is only guaranteed for this year and next year, with the future to be determined by Brexit negotiations.
Succession is always a tricky subject for our industry and because it is probably something that might only happen a maximum of twice in an individual's established farming career - once when you inherit the farm and once when you pass the farm on - we are not trained to deal with it. Like any business decision it is best to remove emotions and egos.
A good succession will ensure the business continues to be financially sustainable regardless of who is head of the holding. I have always been told that it should be transparent so everybody is pulling in the same direction for the good of the business and it won’t get any easier the longer you put it off.
I was very lucky to witness a successful succession plan in place during my time at Harper Adams University. Professor Wynne Jones was a fantastic Principal when I first attended and many people thought he would be hard to replace. However, David Llewellyn came in with a different personality and has taken the university to the next level.
The NFU also seem good at succession.
I must personally thank my father for embracing this succession opportunity. He will remain a key leader within our business while tangibly helping to reduce the average age of our industry. I also believe my grandparents set a high standard when they managed succession in the 1980s. We owe it to them to keep moving forward.
This time we had some very good advice from our accountant, BPS advisor and business mentor. Our bank manager was kept fully informed and was supportive.
Like any business decision, advisors can only give you so much advice and you need to ask the right questions and drive the decision-making process yourself.
I believe experience is the best education, we are up for the future challenges, and my father has seen how much more motivated and inspired I am to grab every opportunity since we made the decision together.
Richard Bower farms at Penkridge
