Bank team reclaim Holsworthy Livestock Market for Farmers

Holsworthy Market, one of the largest livestock markets in the South West, has fully re-opened and is re-staffing for the first time since Foot & Mouth, thanks to a team of Lloyds TSB Group Management Trainees.

Re-newed business optimism is justified, as whilst the trainee's worked onsite, almost £400,000 of business was done in the 50% of the market that was operational during the St Peters Fair on 9th July. It attracted 620 cattle, 1500 sheep and 50 calves.

At Christmas, the team of trainees from Lloyds TSB, approached the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) in search of a project for the trainees to undertake as part of their Diploma in Management Studies with Nottingham Trent University.

"We were tasked with finding a 2-day project, with a budget of £25 per head through which we could display business excellence' said Miriam Harrison, a Brighton based trainee manager. "RASE put us in touch with James Morrish, South Eastern Development Officer for the Rural Stress Information Network (RSIN), based within the Arthur Rank Centre at the society's headquarters at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire."

The first confirmed case of Foot and Mouth disease during the 2001 epidemic occurred 5 miles outside Holsworthy. The livestock market was forced to close for 12 months and when it re-opened, half of the pens were unusable with devastating effects on the local economy and community.

"We could have easily chosen to go on a jolly," explained Miriam, "but we wanted to do something for charity instead and put something back into the community. To hear that jobs that were lost through foot and mouth are gradually being made available was a massive boost to our efforts".

DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) stipulated that to get the market back up to full capacity, extensive restoration work would need to be done. "The work would have cost thousands of pounds, which essentially would have been borne by Farmers," said James Morrish. "When Miriam contacted me through the Arthur Rank Centre at Stoneleigh Park, this seemed like the perfect project for a keen group of young people to undertake".

Twenty young management trainees, all studying for their Management Diplomas, repainted and repaired sheep pens and performed general maintenance on the Holsmart Centre over a 2-day period. The urban workers hailed from banks in Birmingham, Brighton, London, Newport, Andover and Bristol and only meet every 6 weeks for their studies.

Through a variety of office collections, pub quiz, a sponsored swim, and further support from Lloyds TSB, the trainees also raised £3,000 for the Rural Stress Information Network which they presented to James at the end of the project.

"The donation came as a fantastic surprise after all their hard work. It is so essential for the rural community to have the market back up and running at full capacity and not just from a business perspective. The market is also somewhere for farmers to network and to dispel feelings of remoteness that they may be experiencing whilst living with their families often in isolated areas."

As well as the emotional support the RSIN provides for rural communities, it also utilises funding from the Department of Education to offers a high-tech office at Holsworthy. Here, Farmers create computerised records of the movements of their animals on an as and when basis so that they can avoid becoming stressed by administration piling up" said Morrish.

Keywood Holiday Park offered free accommodation near the Holsmart Centre. A local caterer supplied local produce during the working day and Mole Valley Farmers 'oiled the wheels' with lager during the Tuesday afternoon.

Trainee Manager Michael Harrison from Andover described the team's reaction when they arrived, "We couldn't believe the condition of the pens, but the buzz was fantastic, and the sense of achievement was phenomenal. With the market actually happening whilst we worked, we could see the value of our work and were able to chat to interested auctioneers and farmers".