CONTINGENCY
What would you do if your business experienced a disaster? 2002 saw me attending a meeting at one of Barclays Bank’s computer centres....
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- Sep 5
- 7 min
How to Borrow Money for your Business
This is a simple explaination of Business Borrowing - I make no apology for keeping it simple. There are four common ways that a business...
- Jul 21
- 3 min
Wooden Dollars and Trade Tokens
You may have heard the phrase “wooden dollars” when referring to spurious values of such items as natural capital values. The term refers...
- Jul 16
- 3 min
Can your business rely on social media?
Can your business rely upon social media? In the rural economy word of mouth and local reputation can be key. But where is the first...
- Jul 14
- 2 min
Are Pension Schemes Effective for Part Time Workers?
Much employment in the rural sector relies upon part time and seasonal work especially in agriculture and hospitality. Many part time...
- Jul 12
- 3 min
Carbon Offset and VAT Fraud and a warning to farmers.
Once upon a time there was a butcher's shop with its freezers absolutely full of mobile phones. The business was raided and found to...
- Jul 6
- 4 min
Inland Revenue, PAYE, State Pension - Why are they hard to deal with?
This summer the Inland Revenue has declared a shutdown of its Tax helpline for the summer. The impact of this is , in my opinion,...
- Jul 2
- 3 min
When to blow the budget!
Every person that has well run personal or business finances works to a budget of various simplicity or complexity. Whether it be how...
- Jul 1
- 3 min
Import
Have you ever looked at a good deal to buy a piece of equipment online and then realized that it is in America or some other country only...
- Jun 30
- 3 min
Fixed Rates - How do you view them?
"I've got a good fixed rate," are words that make me cringe. So often they indicate, whether it be for a business debt or a personal...
- Jun 28
- 5 min
Overdraft Charges
Farming businesses have seen considerable rises in working capital requirements that is, the amount of cash required to see your...
- Jun 21
- 3 min
CCTV
CCTV – Legal and practical considerations when installing CCTV It is increasingly common for farms and other rural businesses to decide...
- Jun 18
- 4 min
It's Not As Dangerous as it Looks.
These are the reassuring words a farmer gave to me as he stood in his improvised “cherry-picker”. This comprised of a potato box on a...
- May 27
- 9 min
Is Your Bank Branch Closing?
In response to the planned closure of Seahouses and Alnwick branches of Barclays Bank Councillors Gordon Castle, Wendy Pattison and Guy...
- May 24
- 3 min
"When will you pay me?" Say the bells of Old Bailey.
“If you are going to work for yourself you cannot be afraid to ask for your own money.” These are words that I recall my father telling...
- Apr 22
- 5 min
What it was like being an LRSN Call Handler.
Until December 2022 I was an LRSN call handler and volunteer through what had been a busy period. My move to Northumberland meant I...
- Feb 15
- 4 min
REPOSSESSION - What to expect if your farmhouse is to be repossessed.
The nature of farming is that often the Bank has a charge over a farmer’s home to support the business borrowing. This charge may be part...
- Feb 15
- 2 min
Lack of Incentive? Or Lack of Trust?
Single Farm Payment saw an average cut of 22% for farmers last year with the money supposedly diverted to the Sustainable Farm Incentive...
- Feb 6
- 8 min
DEALING WITH CROP FAILURE
INTRODUCTION This guide is designed primarily for UK arable farmers but can be applied to others especially those businesses with a...
- Sep 2, 2022
- 2 min
Boris's Kettle an Energy Saving tip
Temperature control kettle This week saw Boris Johnson rambling on about how spending £20 on a new kettle could save you money. So is...
Farmers Friend
Exploring stories, tales and rural issues as I see them.
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