Alternative enterprises find a home in former farm buildings
Alternative enterprises find a home in former farm buildings
By David Green
TOYS and telescopes are helping to boost job numbers on farms back to levels not seen since the 1960s.
Forty years ago, the 730ha (1800 acre) Bayfield Estate, near Holt, Norfolk, employed 26 people. Today, the farm is run by one full-time and one part-time employee. But more than 20 non-farming people – including a jack-in-the-box maker – now occupy former farm buildings.
Roger Combe, who runs the estate in partnership with his father, said: "Our policy is hands-off diversification, renting to operators who know their own business rather than the estate running alternative enterprises, such as pick your own."
The estate is home to a telescope-maker and has been used as a location by film-makers and for the television sit-com Allo, Allo.
Other farmers are also managing to overcome planning rules and are profiting from converting redundant buildings into offices and workships. Jeremy and Anne Courtney, from East Hoathly, near Lewes, recently won a Sussex Business award for best small business.
The couple farm 365ha (900 acres) and have 200 dairy cows. They began converting farm buildings in 1988, which are now home to 18 businesses, employing over 80 people.
Mr Courtneys expertise in finding other sources of income means he is in demand as a property consultant to the farming industry.
"In many cases finding an alternative income offers farmers a lifeline, enabling them to retain their farms and continue to act as custodians of the countryside." *
Roger Combe rents redundant farm buildings on the Bayfield Eastate to a diverse range of businesses, including telescope maker.