Farming firm acquires Northumberland land in seven-figure deal

A Northumberland farming business is set to expand operations after acquiring a local agriculture firm and 50 hectares of arable land.

Belford-based firm R Brewis & Partners has purchased the entire issued share capital of Fordell Farms Ltd, which includes the 50 hectares of land to the west of Belford.

Established in the 1950s, R Brewis & Partners operates a mixed livestock and arable operation on around 650 hectares of local farmland in the area.

The firm, which has been run by the Brewis family for three generations, intends to extend its existing agricultural activities onto the new land.

Peter Brewis commented: “The land we’ve purchased is adjacent to some of our existing fields to the west of Belford and we’ve driven past it pretty much every single day.

“The machinery we already have means we can integrate it easily into our existing operations without incurring any additional overheads and it made clear commercial sense for us to expand in this way.

Legal advice on the corporate aspects of the deal was provided by Ben Jackson and Mark Adams of Hay & Kilner Law Firm in Newcastle, with colleague Chris Anderson advising on the commercial property side of the acquisition.

Peter continued: “The Hay & Kilner team was well prepared for dealing with any obstacles as and when they came up and kept things moving forward as we worked towards a successful conclusion.”

Ben Jackson, solicitor in Hay & Kilner’s specialist corporate and commercial team, added: “R Brewis & Partners is a well-established part of the Northumberland farming landscape, but still retains a clear ambition to grow and innovate wherever possible, as this acquisition demonstrates.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with the Brewis family on this project and we wish them every success with their future development of the business.”