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A County Durham dairy has received funding to expand its business to cope with increased demand following the closure of the Dairy Farmers of Britain (DFOB) dairy at Blaydon.
One North East has given Rock Farm Dairy £80,000 RDPE funding to increase the capacity from 50,000 litres to 150,000 litres per day and recruit 16 people who were made redundant at Blaydon.
The regional development agency is also proactively encouraging farmers affected by the closure to contact Business Link to receive advice from rural account managers for financial planning support and to identify opportunities under the RDPE programme such as farm diversification and skills development.
One North East is working closely with English Food and Farming Partnerships (EFFP) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) to try to match dairy farmers in the region without a market to local dairies.
In addition, the agency has funded a dairy development skills project through the RDPE Landskills project, to train 30 regional dairy farmers.
This follows the announcement that Milk Link has agreed to offer contracts to the remaining 143 national DFOB members who have not yet found a home for their milk.
When it emerged DFOB was in danger of closing, One North East held lengthy discussions with the company receivers, Secretary of State for the Environment Hilary Benn and Blaydon Dairy management. Along with Gateshead Council and Defra, One North East had prepared a package of financial assistance in an effort to secure a management buy out of the operation, but unfortunately this could not be achieved.
Adrian Sherwood, RDPE manager at One North East, said: “We have been working tirelessly with partners since it emerged that the Blaydon dairy was in trouble. Unfortunately it wasn’t possible to save that particularly dairy, but it’s welcome news that RDPE funding is helping to expand another regional dairy, allowing it to compete and grow in the future, employ people that were directly hit by the Blaydon closure and retain an important supply chain in the region.
“But our work doesn’t stop there. There are still many farmers that need our help and support, which is why we are contacting those affected to encourage them to seek advice with regards to business support from Business Link. This doesn’t have to mean the end of the road for them, there may be funding available to help with diversification or skills opportunities to open new avenues.
“The Landskills project is also an excellent example of work we are doing to ensure that farmers in the region have the opportunity to access training to ensure their businesses grow and prosper for the benefit of the whole region. We would encourage any farmer with training needs to get in touch.”
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