Andersons Northern Farm Consultants

What Andersons Northern Farm Consultants does

Andersons Northern Farm Consultants (trading as Andersons Northern Edinburgh) is a UK-based farm business consultancy providing independent advisory services to agricultural businesses across Northern England and Scotland from its base in Musselburgh, East Lothian. The firm operates as a regional practice within the broader Andersons group, which was founded in 1973 as David Anderson and Co. and celebrates 50 years of continuous operation. Andersons Northern delivers six core advisory services: Business Finance (budgets, cashflows, bank negotiations, financial restructuring), Business Reviews (appraisals, succession planning, cost of production, comparative benchmarking), Farming Opportunities (contract farming agreements, joint ventures, grazing agreements), Basic Payment Scheme administration, Environmental Schemes and Grant Funding, and Farm Business and Estate Management and Administration. The firm also publishes annual Outlook reports and a periodic Business Matters series for industry thought leadership.

The consultancy is built on agricultural sector expertise, financial modelling, and a proprietary Loam Farm benchmarking model that has tracked 600 hectares of combinable cropping performance since 1991. Customer segments span arable, livestock, dairy, and mixed farming operations, primarily SMB farm businesses plus landowners seeking contract farming or joint venture partners. The firm maintains a small team of five staff: two directors (David Siddle, director since 2001; Ben Kellagher, director since 2002), two consultants (Charlotte Dun, joined 2018; Tom Cratchley, joined 2022 from Evolution Farming), and a secretary/bookkeeper (Sarah Sommerville, joined 2019).

Revenue is generated through fee-for-service professional advisory engagements quoted on an engagement basis, with no publicly disclosed pricing tiers or subscription products. The go-to-motion combines direct enterprise field sales (consultant-led on-farm advisory engagements) with event- and content-driven marketing through publications, Twitter presence, and earned media in agricultural press. The firm is privately held with no external investment, no subsidiaries, and is GDPR-compliant; it has no disclosed proprietary technology platform, app, or API, and operates entirely on human advisory delivery backed by sector knowledge and proprietary benchmarking data.

Name

Andersons Northern Farm Consultants

Legal name

Andersons Northern

Website

https://andersonsedinburgh.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1973

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Andersons Northern Farm Consultants is a UK farm business consultancy based in Musselburgh, Scotland, delivering independent advisory services across finance, contract farming, BPS, environmental schemes, and estate management to arable, livestock, dairy, and mixed farms throughout Northern England and Scotland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Business Consultancy

NAICS

Farm Management Services (115116), Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry (115)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Whole-Farm Business Management & Budgeting Advisory (AFACAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Supply Chain, Marketing & Contracting Advisory (Grain/Livestock Marketing) (AFACAJAH), Succession, Governance & Ownership Transition Advisory (AFACAJAO), Farm Financial Management & Recordkeeping Services (AFACAJAC)

Keywords

• Farm business consultancy
• Agricultural advisory services
• Contract farming agreements
• Farm financial planning
• Rural business management

Headquarters

HQ city

Musselburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Farm Business Consultancy Services: Fee-for-service professional advisory engagements covering business planning, financial planning, farm management, and strategic advisory services for agricultural clients.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Andersons Northern Farm Consultants delivers independent farm business consultancy and management advisory services to agricultural businesses across Northern England and Scotland. Its offering spans six core services — business finance, business reviews, farming opportunities (including contract farming and joint ventures), Basic Payment Scheme guidance, environmental schemes and grant funding, and farm/estate management and administration — supported by the Loam Farm benchmarking dataset and recurring Outlook and Business Matters publications.

Product overview

Andersons Northern Farm Consultants operates as a farm business consultancy offering six core advisory services: Business Finance (budgets, cashflows, bank negotiations), Business Reviews (appraisals, succession planning, benchmarking), Farming Opportunities (contract farming, joint ventures, grazing agreements), Basic Payment Scheme (claims, entitlements, cross compliance), Environmental Schemes and Grant Funding, and Farm Business and Estate Management and Administration. The firm also publishes annual and periodic reports including Andersons Outlook (annual publication with sector analysis) and Business Matters (periodic business topics publication). Services are delivered by experienced agricultural consultants across Northern England and Scotland from their Musselburgh base.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Business Finance

Quantifiable outcome

• Loam Farm model tracks 600ha in rotation of milling wheat, oilseed rape, feed wheat and spring beans for industry benchmarking
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Andersons Centre: Sister practice within the Andersons group providing industry research and printed publications (Outlook, Business Matters). Direct peer under same parent brand, comparable services and customer base.
• Ceres Rural: UK farm business consultancy offering strategic, financial and agronomic advice to arable and mixed farming businesses. Direct competitor in the same advisory niche across similar client segments.
• Brown & Co: UK firm providing farm business consultancy, agency, and professional services to agricultural and rural businesses. Comparable advisory offering to farmers and landowners.
• Fisher German: UK rural consultancy providing farm business advice, contract farming arrangement support, and BPS/scheme guidance. Direct peer serving similar farming clients.
• Velcourt: UK-based farm management company providing contract farming, agronomy and business management services to landowners and farmers. Comparable farm business management offering.
• Promar International: UK agricultural consultancy providing farm business analysis, benchmarking and advisory services across dairy, livestock and arable sectors. Direct peer in agricultural benchmarking and consultancy.

Broad incumbents

• Strutt & Parker (BNP Paribas Real Estate): Established UK rural consultancy (now part of BNP Paribas) offering farm business management, estate agency, and agribusiness advisory across England and Scotland. Overlapping services from a much larger incumbent.
• Savills (Rural Division): Global real estate firm with significant UK rural and agribusiness consultancy practice. Provides farm management, estate management, and advisory services overlapping with Andersons Northern's offering.
• Knight Frank (Rural Consultancy): Major property consultancy with UK rural and farm management practice. Comparable in estate management and farm advisory though broader and less specialist in agricultural policy.
• Bidwells: UK property consultancy with rural and agribusiness services covering farm management, estate strategy and rural development across East Anglia and beyond. Comparable farm advisory scope.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/andersonsedin

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Andersons Northern Farm Consultants