UK Agricultural Finance Ltd is registered in England with registered number 09760807 and registered office at Unit B, Great Hollanden Business Centre, Mill Lane, Underriver, Kent, TN15 0SQ, United Kingdom. UK Agricultural Lending Ltd is registered in England with registered number 10049593 and registered office at Unit B, Great Hollanden Business Centre, Mill Lane, Underriver, Kent, TN15 0SQ, United Kingdom. UKAL No1 10893442 UKAL No2 10915861
Agriculture is the backbone of any country and has been an important part of civilization for thousands of years. It is also a complex and challenging business. Like all businesses, flexible and responsive finance is an essential tool.
The practice of credit being given and received is an age-old tradition ranging from barter to mortgages. Private mortgages played an important role in the local exchange of money and the UK’s once great building society sector developed from this. It’s only recently that the drive for ‘efficiency’ has turned lending into an impersonal and seemingly deliberately unhelpful process. We aim to remedy this.
At the heart of our business is the desire to provide the agricultural sector with finance options that help it develop and grow. We know rural property and rural businesses; the driving factors, the challenges, and the appeal of taking this type of initiative. More importantly, we understand lending against land for unique enterprises that aren’t simple businesses and that a ‘one size fits all’ approach is unhelpful.
We believe in taking time to understand our borrowers’ needs, so we can tailor solutions to fit their objectives. We aim to be reliable partners, who act with integrity and deliver every time on what we say we will do. You’ll find us pragmatic, with common sense, flexible attitude prevailing.
We believe passionately in responsible lending. This means providing useful, relevant and fair products to our borrowers, that also deliver a fair return to our investors. Therefore, we expect our borrowers to be fully open and honest with us, and communicate in a timely manner, ensuring we have all necessary information, even if we’ve not asked for it. In return, we will deal openly, honestly and promptly with our borrowers and do whatever we can to help their business succeed.
Tracey has spent her whole career in finance and banking. She gained experience in personal and commercial finance with companies including Santander, Barclays and The Money Advice Service before her move to UK Agricultural Finance.
She has fulfilled various roles in the financial sector and as such has a keen understanding of each stage of the lending process.
Tracey grew up on a family farm and has an intrinsic understanding of the rural and farming communities.
With over 35 years of experience in finance, Sue understands the opportunities and challenges facing the agricultural sector.
Sue comes from a farming background and spent most of her childhood on her grandfather’s farm.
Her experience in both the agricultural and financial industries means she is well placed to understand the needs of borrowers from small holdings to country estates.
Sue’s favourite pastimes are spending time with her dog and family.
Louise is our Client Relationship Manager based in the North of England. She joined UK Agricultural Finance in 2018 having worked previously for Northern Rock PLC.
During her 15-year service at Northern Rock, Louise worked in Asset Management, Mortgage Underwriting and as a Business Development Manager.
Excelling in customer service, Louise enjoys building successful working relationships with introducers and especially enjoys the opportunity of meeting borrowers out on site.
Ryan is our Client Relationship Manager for the East of England, joining UK Agricultural Finance in 2024 after a distinguished career at Barclays.
During his time at Barclays, Ryan held various roles that allowed him to gain extensive experience in finance and debt structuring. This background enables him to support customers through challenging times and foster strong relationships with professionals in the region.
In addition to his financial expertise, Ryan is a qualified Personal Trainer, so has a strong passion for helping others and staying active
Nicola moved to Cornwall 7 years ago. Prior to her move, she had worked in the insurance industry for many years. Nicola wanted to take on a new challenge and moved into financial services.
Nicola has been with UK Agricultural Finance for 3 years. She supports our client relationship managers and ensures the smooth running of the department with her excellent administration skills.
Billy has 32 years of experience working in financial services and has spent most of his career working with Agriculture and SME businesses. He has undertaken various roles, including Client Relationship Manager and more recently a Credit Risk Director.
Before joining UKAF, he was Head of Agriculture Credit at Barclays. He has vast experience in assessing the lending needs of Agricultural Borrowers and has helped numerous businesses achieve their growth aspirations. In 2021, he joined UKAF as Head of Credit and supports our Business Development Managers and Credit Underwriters, in assessing a borrower's lending application.
Sarah has worked within the underwriting field for over 20 years within the banking sector for both High Street lenders and BTL specialist lenders. Roles including Field Underwriter and Underwriting Team Leader.
Sarah has worked for UK Agricultural Finance for nearly 5 years as the Senior Underwriter, managing a team of underwriters and managing loan applications from new and existing borrowers.
Dayle has worked in the finance industry for 7 years and prior to joining UK Agricultural Finance, she worked for Paragon Bank in the Asset Finance Department, as a Relationship Manager.
In 2018, she joined UKAF as a Credit Underwriter and is responsible for assessing clients' lending applications. More recently, she has taken on additional responsibilities within the company, as a Credit Controller.
Molly has over 10 years finance experience working in a manufacturing background, most recently working for one of the largest food manufacturers in the southeast of England as the company’s Senior credit controller. Her area of expertise has always been credit control as she is very customer focussed and enjoys building strong relationships with the customers to support the business requirements. Molly has recently joined UKAF as the company’s Credit controller and will be responsible for all credit control activities across all loan books.
Nikki has 34 years of experience working in Banking, Underwriting and Financial Services.
The majority of her career has been spent working as a Manager for Barclays Home Loans and as a Completions Team Leader for Kent Reliance, dealing with the underwriting and completion of Residential and Buy to Let mortgages.
In 2019 Nikki joined UKAF as a Credit Underwriter assessing client lending applications.
Graham is a highly experienced investor, having worked for Credit Suisse and UBS. Since 2008 Graham has been instrumental in the founding of a number of successful asset management businesses. Graham is a non-executive director for Scholium Group plc and Chief Investment Officer for Soho Estates Holdings.
Before joining UKAF, Mark was the founder and managing director of Tiptree House, a corporate finance advisor, with a proven record in growing entrepreneurial businesses. As part of this, he spent five years on the Board of the Holmesdale Building Society and as Executive Chairman successfully completed a major turnaround that rebuilt its lending business. Most of Mark’s career was spent in the City, financing and investing in small companies, with a focus on renewable energy. Mark is a member of a FTSE Index committee and has an MSc in finance from London Business School. His first degree is in Mechanical Engineering and his early career was spent as an officer in the British Army.
Rob Suss is presently the CEO of Pictet UK. Rob helped found UK Agricultural Finance and previously worked as a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, where he spent 18 years building a number of businesses in their investment management division. His last role was as Head of Private Wealth Management in London. Robert is a passionate supporter of the Royal Academy of the Arts, serving as a Deputy Chair and as Chair of the Royal Academy Schools’ Annual Auction and Dinner. Rob has a BA (Jt. Hons) in Economics and Management from the University of Leeds.
Sue is an experienced financial professional and Chartered Accountant with over 30 years of experience within the property and financial services businesses.
Previous roles have included those within Sovereign Reversion plc, Connell's plc and Augur Investments.
Sue has significant experience with start-up businesses and joined UKAF as Head of Finance in 2018, where her initial role was to set up systems and controls within the company. Since then, the position has expanded to build a finance team that supports both the accounting requirements for the business and also supports the borrowers' accounting and reporting requirements post loan completion.
Vanessa has accumulated 22 years of work experience in front, middle and back office operational roles. Roles have included those at Long Term Credit Bank of Japan, Westcombe Market Research and Fidelity Investments.
Vanessa joined UKAF in 2017 as its first employee, when the company was in its infancy. The initial objective was to help establish systems and controls within the business. Vanessa's role now assists the company with the achievement of operational objectives across the various departments, including the regular financial administration of established processes within our loan portfolios.
Vanessa liaises directly with our borrowers to ensure that their requirements from the business are fulfilled.
Vicky has always worked in finance and banking. She worked as a Financial Adviser with companies including Lloyds TSB and Alexander Forbes, before training in accounting with The Association of Accounting Technicians in 2020.
She has recently completed her level 4 qualification, Diploma in Professional Accounting.
In 2021, she joined UKAF to support the Finance Director and team.
We are all about a fair deal for borrowers who want quick, simple and flexible agricultural finance; a fair deal for our investors; and a fair return for us. This means we take risk management and responsible lending very seriously: they help protect our borrowers and the wider rural community, as well as our business and investors.
If you’re a borrower:
Before taking out a loan from us, it’s important that you familiarise yourself with our Terms & Conditions and click here for our Tariff of Charges
