Michael has worked with Old Hall Farm for over 18 months providing strategic support to Rebecca and Stuart. This work began with them when they had just 7 cows and the idea of starting a new farm shop. During this time Michael has written business plans, drafted the planning justification statement and finally helped the family to secure grant funding.
The farm shop and café is currently being built, cow numbers have increased and the business is selling amazing raw Jersey milk.
Old Hall FarmPlanning, Grant Support, Farm Retail Shropshire dairy farmers, Linda and Roger Edwards, set out to create a new income stream to the farms dairy to enable them to reduce reliance on milk sales. The grant application and planning approval had stalled.
Michael was brought in to drive forward the grant application which was secured for a new campsite. Michael then pulled together the planning application process to drive the application forward to a successful outcome. The campsite build is just starting.
Linda EdwardsTourism, Planning, Grant Funding Tim and Sue had developed an idea to create a new farm shop, bakery and café on their farm at Long Crendon Manor. Michael was initially asked to build a business case to back up the loan application through the AMC. Through the use of benchmarked data and local research a full set of financial data was prepared and used to successfully secure the loan funding.
During the drafting of the business proposal, Tim found that being able to discuss ideas and thoughts through with Michael was a very effective way to both keep the business focused and to make effective decisions.
The bakery and farm shop are now open and the café is close to completion.
Long Crendon ManorBusiness Planning, Mentoring, Loan Application Blackheath Farm had worked for over a year to review its water security issues and to gain planning consent for a new 150,000 m3 reservoir for its farm on the Suffolk coast. Due to project delays, the opportunity for grant funding under the Productivity Grant was significantly time bound. I was invited to write the grant application and support it through the process with the RPA. The project secured grant support at 40% and is currently being constructed.
Blackheath Farms llpIrrigation, Productivity Grant, Suffolk, Farm, Agriculture Over the last 3 years Michael has worked with the Trust and its predecessor organisations to help guide it through the challenges of a small charity. During this time he has enabled the charity to expand regionally, develop new delivery functions as well as merging two two charities.
Over this time the Charities have seen an increase in the number of clients being worked with and a growth in the businesses reserves.
The Family Mediation TrustCharity, CEO, Leadership, Governance Working for the Department of Education we were charged with conducting a Feasibility Study for the Purchase of a Farm for a Specialist Free School in Kent. The objective of the study was to perform a thorough evaluation of the proposed project, including a close examination of the business plan and conversations with relevant personnel.
The aim of the study was to produce a comprehensive and thorough appraisal of the application, with a clear understanding of the potential advantages and disadvantages of purchasing a farm for the specialist free school. Michael utilized his team of experts to approach the project with a comprehensive method, combining their technical expertise with practical experience to provide an impartial and well-informed analysis of the proposal.
Department for Educationfeasibility study, farm purchase, specialist free school, Kent, Department of Education, business plan, key personnel, appraisal
