Steve Dunkley's path from family farm to HSBC Agriculture

Steve was brought up in Fearby on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, where the family had a small farm which focused on the finishing of store cattle.

“I left school at 16 and went onto study beef production and farm business at Askham Bryan College,” he explained. “Soon afterwards, I was made a partner in the family business and continued working at home, supplementing my income by working on other local farms.

“At the height of the BSE outbreak, I decided that I wanted to look beyond our tenanted unit and work in the wider agricultural industry. The options to expand at home were fairly limited – we rented 50 acres, plus 50 acres of annual lets and we were based right in the middle of the village. Due to these challenges, the tenancy was given up in the late 1990s.”

The first step for Steve in expanding his horizons was to study for a degree in land management and technology. Having enjoyed his earlier time at Askham Bryan, he returned to the college to take the course and gained a 2:1 qualification. After graduating, he took a job with Defra.

He said: “The BSE outbreak had subsided, but the industry was then hit by the foot-and-mouth disease crisis. Defra’s Northallerton office was dealing with the huge influx of work that it generated and advertised for additional staff. I started on a three-month contract and ended up in permanent employment, delivering rural grant schemes.”

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Steve’s role in the Defra grant department came to an end during a restructuring period and he was moved to the regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward, to take up a similar role. In 2008, he left to join the specialist consultancy, English Food and Farming Partnership (EFFP), which had initially been set up post-FMD to encourage farmer collaboration.

“Through my connections, I next made a move to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), to work in the division which was then known as EBLEX and focused on the beef and lamb sector. After receiving a promotion, I was asked to move closer to the organisation’s head office in the Midlands and worked in the pig sector, leading the knowledge exchange team activity.

“In the latter stages of my AHDB employment, I concentrated on farm business and skills. In 2021, AHDB won a Defra contract to conduct a series of farm business reviews, with the aim of helping producers to adapt to the forthcoming Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) changes. The team delivered 2,000 business reviews across England and a more in-depth service was extended to 400 of these clients. The advice was wide-ranging and encompassed elements like succession planning, budgeting forecasts, benchmarking and carbon auditing.”

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As might be expected, the reviews found some common themes on how farms would adapt to BPS reductions and expansion, improving efficiency, seeking new markets were all mentioned in the farm action plans, with the younger generation confident about the future and open to any prospective changes to the industry. Meanwhile, there was still much uncertainty and a lack of awareness about the implications of the phasing out of the BPS from some older farmers, he commented.

Yorkshire natives tend to have a fierce loyalty to the county and will often return after living elsewhere, if the opportunity arises. So it was for Steve, and the catalyst came during the Covid-19 crisis, during which time he and his partner decided to start a family (they now have a baby son). With a desire to live closer to relatives and friends, they moved from the Midlands to Boroughbridge in North Yorkshire and he joined the HSBC UK Agriculture team.

“Our family had always banked with HSBC, so it felt familiar when I took up the post as regional agriculture director. I did my research before applying for the role and found that the bank has a strong commitment to farming. There are currently about 100 dedicated agricultural relationship managers working across the UK.

“I work with the team on the ground, supporting the larger loans we offer through providing my farming perspective. Arrangements are checked and double-checked, to ensure that they make sense from a financial, as well as an agricultural, perspective.

“Despite the volatility we have seen in markets and the rise in interest rates, there are still plenty of good farm businesses who are looking to grow with our support. Land is often the limiting factor, but our clients are creative.

“Our main focus is on affordability when a loan is being considered and we always stress that the bank should be contacted sooner, rather than later, at the first sign of financial difficulties,” concluded Steve.