County Durham farmer expands to cope with dairy farmers of Britain closure
A County Durham dairy has received funding to expand its business to cope with increased demand following the closure of the Dairy Farmers of Britain (DFOB) dairy at Blaydon.
One North East has given Rock Farm Dairy £80,000 from its Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) to increase the capacity from 50,000 litres to 150,000 litres per day and recruit 16 people who were made redundant at Blaydon.
The regional development agency is also proactively encouraging farmers affected by the closure to contact Business Link to receive advice from rural account managers for financial planning support and to identify opportunities under the RDPE programme such as farm diversification and skills development.
One North East is working closely with English Food and Farming Partnerships (EFFP) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) to try to match dairy farmers in the region without a market to local dairies.
In addition, the agency has funded a dairy development skills project through the RDPE Landskills project, to train 30 regional dairy farmers.
This follows the announcement that Milk Link has agreed to offer contracts to the remaining 143 national DFOB members who have not yet found a home for their milk.
When it emerged DFOB was in danger of closing, One North East held lengthy discussions with the company receivers, Secretary of State for the Environment Hilary Benn and Blaydon Dairy management. Along with Gateshead Council and Defra, One North East had prepared a package of financial assistance in an effort to secure a management buy out of the operation, but unfortunately this could not be achieved.
Adrian Sherwood, RDPE manager at One North East, said: "We have been working tirelessly with partners since it emerged that the Blaydon dairy was in trouble. Unfortunately it wasn’t possible to save that particularly dairy, but it’s welcome news that RDPE funding is helping to expand another regional dairy, allowing it to compete and grow in the future, employ people that were directly hit by the Blaydon closure and retain an important supply chain in the region.
"But our work doesn’t stop there. There are still many farmers that need our help and support, which is why we are contacting those affected to encourage them to seek advice with regards to business support from Business Link. This doesn’t have to mean the end of the road for them, there may be funding available to help with diversification or skills opportunities to open new avenues.
"The Landskills project is also an excellent example of work we are doing to ensure that farmers in the region have the opportunity to access training to ensure their businesses grow and prosper for the benefit of the whole region. We would encourage any farmer with training needs to get in touch."
Rock Farm Dairy is owned by the Gregory family who have been involved in producing and delivering milk for over 100 years from the farm, near Wheatley Hill. It runs a modern local dairy, providing a doorstep delivery service in County Durham as well as supplying milk to schools, hospitals, prisons and catering outlets.
RDPE funding to Rock Farm Dairy will allow the business to significantly increase its capacity to be able to handle, process and bottle milk from producers who had been supplying the Dairy Farmers of Britain.
John Gregory, a partner at Rock Farm Dairy, said: "Following the closure at Blaydon, Rock Farm was forced to increase its milk intake significantly but limited resources made it difficult to continue this on a permanent basis. One of our main concerns was to make sure schools and all other dairymen in the region had a continuation of supply and we are working 24 hours a day to make sure all needs are covered.
"The funding will allow us to expand our business to ensure its stability while providing affected suppliers with a lifeline. It is great that we have been able to employ people who unfortunately lost their jobs following the closure at Blaydon and it is positive news for the region as whole."
The Rural Development Programme for England 2007-2013 is jointly funded by Defra and the European Union, with the aim of delivering targeted support to rural businesses and communities. It is managed in North East England by One North East, Natural England and the Forestry Commission.
The RDPE investment being managed by One North East combines larger projects to help many businesses in different sectors of the rural economy - including bioenergy and land-based skills, and projects adding value to agricultural and forestry products - with smaller investments to help individual businesses to start-up, grow or diversify, and support to develop more sustainable rural communities.
RDPE is part of Solutions for Business, the Government’s package of publicly funded support products offering help to companies to start, grow and succeed. Solutions for Business makes it easier for companies to get the advice and assistance that they need.
