Two large estates in Scotland are set to merge operations to create a single estate identity, its owner has said.
Buccleuch Estate, which owns more than 227,000 acres of land, has announced it will merge operations at its Bowhill and Eskdale & Liddesdale Estates.
The combined estate will be known as Borders Estate, and will be formalised from 1st of September.
Buccleuch said that Bowhill and Eskdale and Liddesdale Estates had been working "increasingly closely", and a single unified operation "reflected more accurately" estate activity and operations.
Borders Estate will be managed by Edward Morris, who was previously Estate Manager at Bowhill, and has been overseeing operations at Eskdale & Liddesdale since early this year.
There will be no change to ongoing relationships with farming tenants; with both legal agreements and key personnel remaining unchanged under the new Borders Estate umbrella.
The overall footprint of the combined estate will be significantly reduced as Buccleuch progresses its policy of selling land and farms.
'Streamline'
Savills, the property advisers, have been engaged by Buccleuch to look at bringing more agricultural land to the market, either as a portfolio or individual units.
Buccleuch has sold 24 farms totalling 32,000 acres across its Scottish Estates over the past 20 years. Discussions are currently ongoing with approximately 40 tenants.
John Glen, Chief Executive of Buccleuch said: “We continue to streamline and harmonise our back office processes, in order to develop a consistent approach across all aspects of our rural business.
“The shape and scale of Buccleuch’s landholdings continues to change and in recent years we have been selling land and properties as we reduce our footprint.
Mr Glen added: “We have been in discussions with a number of tenant farmers who have expressed an interest in buying their farms and these discussions are continuing."
