Landed Estates and Rural Business

Harrison Drury has a well-established team dedicated to working with all types of agricultural and rural clients to look after both their business and personal interests.

We provide practical and commercially focused advice on agricultural property, land and rural estate management, regulatory/compliance and corporate matters including partnership work as well as succession planning. We also have dedicated team members advising on litigation and dispute resolution including property disputes as well as partnership, proprietary estoppel and other high-value disputes. We also have team members advising on wills, trusts and probate and estate administration with dedicated specialists also advising on contentious probate and other disputes arising in this area as well as family law.

The team is comprised of agricultural experts with strong and long track records of advising clients in the sector including high-value rural landed estates, traditional farming clients (including NFU members) and landowners (including CLA members) for whom we advise on sales and purchases of agricultural land, horticultural businesses including agri-food production and connected businesses such as butchers, rural/farming businesses and partnerships, businesses servicing the agricultural sector as well as beneficiaries of estates with a rural focus and specialist equestrian businesses.

Our team is heavily embedded in the rural and agricultural sector due to the rural locations in which we are based. We have team members across each of our offices but we work with clients from across England and Wales as a result of our reputation in the sector.

Our rural and agricultural team have close links with the farming community, with many coming from farming backgrounds themselves. They understand the cultural complexities and sensitivities of working with rural and agricultural clients, and they tailor their service delivery to cater to your particular needs, providing efficient and effective problem solving as well as proactive advice to clients. They understand that your rural business may be a commercial operation but may also be a family asset and indeed a home environment.

The team holds close working relationships with agricultural membership organisations and are members of the Agricultural Law Association and the Country Land and Business Association.

The team holds a deep understanding of land and how it works, what it’s used for and the implications on a wider basis. They have a loyal following of longstanding clients, many of whom have instructed the firm through multiple generations of the family, and are retained to undertake multiple instructions across the full range of legal issues.

We appreciate and understand the importance of keeping up-to-date with the rapidly changing agricultural law and the regulations which affect rural businesses in a period of unprecedented change, and we support clients with the most up to date legal advice including in relation to the changes arising from the UK’s departure from the EU and the changes to the Agriculture Act 2020.