Bank deal helps first-time Fife farmers secure full ownership of farm

Virgin Money is always keen to support the next generation of farmers, and when Craig and Katreen Malone’s existing bank declined to provide a loan to buy the Fife farm they were renting, the company stepped in to make it possible.

As they approached the end of their 10-year starter tenancy on the 290-acre Pitcairn Farm, Cardenden that they rented from Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), Craig and his wife negotiated a three-year extension and then approached FLS with a request to buy the farm.

Craig said: “I am grateful for FLS firstly for giving us the opportunity to get us started with the tenancy of Pitcairn then giving us the option to buy the farm, but then when we approached our existing bank for help, they turned us down – so, we were very relieved when Virgin Money stepped in and gave us the support we needed.”

For Virgin Money’s agricultural business manager, Rona Jordan, the Malones did not meet the bank’s normal criteria for a loan of this size, but they were exactly the kind of dedicated, hardworking, next generation farmers that it is committed to supporting.

She said: “This is a progressive young couple who have invested their heart and soul during their tenancy into building a successful, viable farming enterprise. They had a wonderful track record of achieving such a lot in a relatively short time and having farmed Pitcairn for many years, they knew it inside out and were already operating a financially viable enterprise. “

Growing up in Stirling, Craig has always wanted to be a farmer, but he knew the dream of farming his own land would be incredibly difficult to realise. After leaving Auchincruive Agricultural College, he began his journey in farming working as a stockman, and then took the plunge into self-employment, taking on annual grass lets, renting buildings to house stock in the winter, and building up a herd of some 50 head of cattle.

In 2012, Craig took on the tenancy of Pitcairn Farm, a 10-year Young Person’s tenancy from FLS that he and his wife Katreen worked tirelessly to transform into a successful livestock family farming business. By the end of their starter tenancy they had raised two daughters and established a noted flock of sheep and a herd of 180 cattle at Pitcairn, but where their future in farming would take them they had no idea.

Virgin Money has provided a loan in excess of £1 million to enable the purchase of the farm, and a small overdraft facility for operational finance.

With the security of ownership, they are pushing ahead with the business model they have established. On the cattle side, they buy in predominantly Limousin Cross and British Blue beef heifers, bull them, calve them and sell them with calves at foot, mainly at Stirling, but also at Carlisle and Aberdeen. The Malones have a reputation for producing tremendous stock for this niche market, and their cattle are much in demand from a growing number of regular buyers.

The Pitcairn Farm sheep enterprise now consists of 800 mainly blackface ewes, crossed to a blue faced Leicester to produce Scottish mules, with ewe lambs sold at Stirling.