Yorkshire agricultural organisation secures £1.5m funding to keep trading through coronavirus

An agricultural organisation has announced that it has received £1.5m in funding to keep trading through the pandemic.

The Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS) today reported that has received support from Barclays through the government backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Scheme (CBILS) in order to maintain the ability to trade through the COVID-19 crisis.

YAS, which is best known for delivering the Great Yorkshire Show, has said that the funding means it doesn’t need to make drastic cuts to its operations and it can be ready to resume business as soon as restrictions are lifted.

Nigel Pulling, chief executive of YAS, commented: “When your business is faced with so much financial uncertainty and income has reduced hugely, you need to take immediate action to improve your cash flow.

“The CBILS loan has given us confidence that not only can we survive the current financial uncertainty but that we will be in as good shape as possible to resume our activities as soon as we are able.”

Tim Watson, Barclays relationship director Agri-Food and Landed Estates, commented: “We have a very close relationship with YAS and we keep in touch with Nigel and the Society regularly so we have a deep understanding of their business.

“We contacted Nigel knowing that the pandemic would have a devastating impact on their income stream and this new funding will help them through these extraordinary times.”