AHDB considers Stoneleigh Park move

Agricultural levy board AHDB is considering quitting its Stoneleigh Park base in favour of smaller premises, it has been revealed.

The organisation, which has been based in a 5m, 35,000 sq ft building on the farming and agricultural centre just outside Coventry in Warwickshire since 2014, said a number of factors had led it to reassess the location.

AHDBs divisional director of engagement Will Jackson said: We are currently looking at our options to move our headquarters from Stoneleigh to a more suitable-sized building to reflect our current needs and ensure the funds we receive from levy payers are invested as effectively as possible.

This is part of what we are doing to reflect levy payer feedback through the Shape the Future process.

Former chair of the AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds sector board Paul Temple said following changes at the institution, it made sense for it to consider the usefulness of its location.

Mr Temple toldFarmers Guardian: Now would be a good time to revisit the location of its headquarters and to rethink how the sectors work together. It is important for AHDB to be in a place that is accessible for both members and staff while offering positive economic outcomes for members.

Stoneleigh Park sits on a 1,000-acre site leased from the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE), which is also based there, alongside the NFU. It was hoped the site would form a cluster of rural interest groups.

However, the site currently has almost 30,000 sq ft of space to rent as businesses realign following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Jackson continued: The journey we are on in building a leaner, more agile AHDB has already seen us reduce the capacity we need from a headquarters and demonstrates why now is the right time to be considering finding a new premises for our organisation and the four sectors we represent.

He said AHDB would discuss its plans in further detail at its Delivering the Future of Farming event on the November 10.

RASE was contacted for the purposes of this article

An earlier version of this article said AHDB's building was 5,000 sq ft. We have corrected this to 35,000 sq ft.