Across a range of recent government consultations, from rural tourism and visitor accommodation to the future of rental standards, the same pattern is emerging. The pressure point in rural businesses isn’t always access to land, capital, or demand, but management bandwidth. The Many Happy Returns podcast offered a neat way of describing this: Return on […]

By Dawn Woollam  |  Hospitality & Tourism Development Consultant  |  March 2026 Every year, the same moment arrives. Families start searching, schools send newsletters home, and the algorithms surface lambs, willow wreaths and painted eggs. The gap between supermarket launch (now during advent…) and family Easter-break planning is narrowing – and for rural estates and […]

Some diversification or project opportunities do not need to be hunted for. They reveal themselves in the working relationships farms already have with businesses nearby. With one of our current client instructions, a long‑running, practical connection between a family farm and a local food producer, originally centred around handling wastewater, created the space for a […]

From April 2026, the rules around Inheritance Tax (IHT) relief for farmers and business owners will change in a meaningful way. The government has confirmed that the threshold at which 100% Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) applies will increase from £1 million to £2.5 million per estate, with the allowance transferable […]

Just before Christmas (2025), Government published a consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), alongside draft policy wording. At face value, this can feel like another policy update in a busy cycle of planning reform. In practice, the draft is more meaningful for rural businesses than it might first appear. It […]

January is when most business owners consider direction for the year ahead. Goals and  priorities are reviewed and agreed, projects and work begins to be mapped out. For the farming sector, this is valuable time before seasonal peak workloads arrive in the form of lambing, calving and spring arable duties. For many rural businesses, 2026 […]

At a glance The Farming Profitability Review is a six-month, England-only review led by Baroness Minette Batters and commissioned by Defra. Its job is to ask a blunt question: “How can farms in England make a proper profit from farming, while still delivering on climate and nature?” A few key framing points: It focuses on […]

Jon Westerman recently highlighted some big changes in the planning world: more staff, ring-fenced funds, and the ability to charge for applications, all aimed at speeding up approvals. For landowners, this creates a friendly planning environment and opportunities like Class Q conversions, even in green belt areas (though not national landscapes).  Sounds exciting, right? But […]

If the CLA Rural Business Conference was a sandwich, it was the sort you unwrap with curiosity. Plenty of good ingredients, a few surprising layers, and the occasional bite that made you pause and check the menu again.   The theme was “driving rural growth”, a title enthusiastically championed by the Secretary of State, the […]

Speakers: Antony Pearce (Dudley Peverill Associates), Dawn Woollam (DPA Consultant), Ed Daniell (Rural Space), Iain Hawthorne (Aravis UK), Simon Kinvig (Pegasus Group) At the Farm Business Innovation Show, this panel brought together diversification experts from across planning, finance, design, and rural enterprise explored how landowners can unlock new income streams through thoughtful, phased development. Using […]