Taking Our Client’s Voice Centre Stage in the Heart of the Farming Community

Our client is a leading finance and mortgage advisory firm with offices in London and the South West of England, specialising in finance and borrowing solutions for high-net-worth individuals in the landed estate sector, as well as entrepreneurs and business owners.

They regularly feature in the national press - including titles such as the Financial Times, Guardian, Independent, Telegraph and Times – providing expert commentary on personal finance and mortgage matters, largely in response to changes in economic and market forces. The national media is a key PR target for them, with ambitions to influence the press’ narrative and raise their business’ profile even further.

The Campaign

Since the autumn there has been growing unrest among farming communities in the UK following the Labour government’s decision to rip up the current Inheritance Tax (IHT) playbook, with significant changes proposed to both Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Relief (BR) – dubbed the ‘Family Farm Tax’.

Deeply rooted in the rural communities they serve, our client was uniquely placed to not only comment on the impact of the IHT changes, but also the repercussions on farming families – their clients.

Our aims:

1. Boost the profile of our client within the national media and key sector press – Landed estates, agriculture & farming

2. Lean on their expertise to highlight their services and knowledge

3. Position our client as the industry leader, taking their voice centre stage

So, with this huge, national discussion taking place, we knew we had an opportunity, but we needed the data to do so.

The Data

Working closely with one of our partner research agencies we developed a questionnaire which targeted UK farmers to uncover what they felt the true impact of the legislative changes would be. Needless to say, after polling 2,000 British farmers, the results of our survey threw up some alarming headlines, including:

  • Over half of farms could go out of business in the next 10 years
  • 39% of farmers expect their farm to be unsustainable within five years
  • 1 in 10 farms expect to face an inheritance tax bill of over £1 million, with 31% expecting a bill of over £500,000
  • 41% believe they will have to sell off at least half their farm business to pay their IHT bill
  • Only 40% of farms polled expect to fall below the proposed tax relief caps – leaving the equivalent of 125,400 UK farms* above the threshold – a stark contrast to the Government’s estimates of 500 estates per year
  • In total, 60% of farmers worry that their business won’t be financially sustainable in the future if ministers forge ahead with their plans

  • These were damning results, ones we knew would grab national attention. However, we also knew third-party endorsement of the results would help amplify our message further.

    Third-Party Endorsement

    Using our little black book, we reached out to the CLA and influential farming voices such as Olly Harrison – the organiser of the national demonstrations and Pancake Day rally in London – to get their perspective on our research.

    CLA President, Victoria Vyvyan called the research “significant”, explaining how “farm businesses will become unviable” if the government pursues this course of action.

    Olly Harrison said: “Any politician’s priority should be to keep its nation fed. I’m shocked by the lack of understanding by government of what UK farms do, three times a day, every day for everybody in the country. These are scary times and not just for farmers. The question is, will we see ration books again or even a ration app?”

    With our headlines and commentary from notable industry figures ready, it was time to take our research to the press.

    Taking the Results to Press

    Using data splits, we created news announcements which hit our client’s national and local audiences, focusing on what Gloucestershire’s farmers were seeing on the ground, as well as the impact across the UK. Both announcements were crafted to engage the audience, spotlight the changes in the legislation, and generate interest in the findings.

    By splitting out our announcements in this way, we were also able to target different sectors of the media, including Finance, Business, Farming, National, Political, Local, Personal Finance and Money editors.

    The Results

    In a matter of days, the campaign generated 29 pieces of coverage across broadcast, print and online media, with a total audience reach of 50m. What’s more it created numerous new backlinks on high domain authority websites which would help boost our client’s Search engine rankings.

    These titles included:

  • Daily Mail
  • This Is Money
  • Daily Express
  • MSN
  • Farmers Weekly
  • GB News
  • Farming Life
  • Farming Online
  • Accountancy Daily
  • Business Money
  • The Business Magazine
  • Punchline
  • And a nice retweet from Clarkson’s Farm
  • Not only did this research campaign increase our client’s visibility nationally, it also showcased their knowledge and expertise to key decision makers in one of their target sectors. The research positioned them as a leader in their field, and a firm that is investing in its own data to help address client challenges.

    Do you have insights to share with your audience? Let us help you build a campaign that puts your brand front of mind, enhances your reputation, and increases your visibility by getting in touch here or calling (+44) 01242 335246.

    Previous Post
    Using research to reach key decision makers within FM, EAM and BM

    Related Case Studies

    Research campaign makes national headlines

    Ready to take your PR HeadOn?

    Contact our awesome team of PR specialist today and find out how we can help you tackle your PR to improve your brand awareness and enhance your reputation.

    Sign up to our newsletter

    For all of our latest news, press releases and special offers, sign up to our newsletter today!