Farming families told an audience at the Scottish Winter Fair that succession planning is key to the future of rural businesses. The families have taken part in the pilot project ‘developing the next generation of business leaders’, run by Lantra in collaboration with the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs and NFU Scotland.
A series of practical business planning workshops, attended by all generations, were held across Scotland. Families then went on to take part in a land-business review and produced training and development plans, aimed at supporting a sustainable and competitive future for their business.
Several families then went on to have one to one mentoring sessions to support the process and ensure that the changes being put in place will be for the long term.
The Millar Family of Balkello, near Auchterhouse, were one of the participating families who met with Mr Lochhead at the Winter Fair event. The Millars reported that one of the most beneficial aspects of the project was adopting a more structured approach to family members communicating about the business. Caroline Millar said:
“We all get on very well and work together on the farm but how often do you make time to sit down together to talk about the future? The Lantra project has allowed us to do that.”
“When you are in your 30s with young children it focuses your mind on the future. The priority for us is to take a look at the best way forward for the business in a new agricultural economic environment,” Mrs Millar said.
Lantra Regional Partnership Manager Mary Mitchell said: “The ‘preferred’ succession route in most cases is to hand ownership down to the next generation. However, lack of knowledge or experience in dealing with issues involved in the handover process can often lead to conflict and risk the sustainability of the business.”
“It is imperative that everyone involved in the business realises the value of business planning and this project demonstrated that all members of the family business can get involved in succession planning.” Mrs Mitchell said.
The project will now be used to develop a business planning and succession planning tool for rural businesses.
The project, part funded by ESF Objective 3, builds on past successful collaborations between Sector Skills Council Lantra, Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs and NFU Scotland.
