
Pullen Barn Farm
A fresh perspective on farming
Hugh Richards, owner of a family farm in Biddenden Kent, has navigated many ups and downs throughout his years in farming. The rising costs of living, combined with the isolating nature of farming, present unique challenges. Read how therapeutic coaching has helped Hugh change old patterns and discover a fresh new perspective.
Maintaining a strong mindset can have a positive impact on the health of your business but it isn’t always easy. To help, Lloyds Bank and Mental Health UK have teamed up to provide small business owners with free therapeutic coaching sessions. This unique blend of counselling and coaching is an effective tool that helps business owners like Hugh Richards to strengthen their mindset and improve mental resilience in their working life.

Back in 1995, Hugh took over the family farming business, swapping the dairy herds his parents had farmed since 1947 for beef cattle. In the years since then, Hugh’s mettle has been challenged constantly and he has weathered many storms, from external pressures like reductions in funding and changes in agricultural legislation to personal tragedies such as the death of his wife in 2004.
Hugh had to singlehandedly raise three young children while continuing to farm, describing his experiences during that time as “rearing children while the farm was running itself”. Hugh’s eldest son, Lawrence, is now 27 and will be the third generation to farm at Biddenden, which now has a herd of over 100 cattle.
Working with his son is one way to ease some of the mental and emotional stresses of the job as well as the physical pressures. “Before my son came home, my life was very isolated. Farming is a very lonely existence. The stresses that are magnified because of that are unbearable,” Hugh says.
New horizons
As part of the diversification plans for the farm, Hugh and Lawrence hope to launch a farm shop and cafe but the pair are coming up against planning issues and escalating costs. “I get my figures looked at by a business analyst who advised me to cut costs,” says Hugh. “All small farmers have been saving money by doing things ourselves. But this adds to the pressure.”
The current economic landscape is tough, affecting most small business owners. The financial pressures for farming are particularly unpredictable, with the price of cattle fluctuating and only one or two opportunities to go to market each year. “The stress of taking cattle to the market when you come home and haven’t made anything is exhausting,” Hugh says. “There’s real uncertainty and it’s got so much worse. I’m lucky because I’ve inherited 60 acres of land. Without the asset we’ve got rising in value I wouldn’t be able to survive. I still have a mortgage to pay.”
The isolating nature of farming means a relationship manager might be the only person with whom farmers feel they can talk to about their problems. Hugh values the support of his relationship manager, “He comes out once a year and advises,” Hugh says. “The biggest problem is that people are burying their heads in the sand. My philosophy is: If you haven’t planned, you plan to fail. It’s good to talk through your plan.”
Important legal information
Lloyds Bank is a trading name of Lloyds Bank plc, Bank of Scotland plc, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc and Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH.
Lloyds Bank plc. Registered Office: 25 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HN. Registered in England and Wales no. 2065. Bank of Scotland plc. Registered Office: The Mound, Edinburgh EH1 1YZ. Registered in Scotland no. SC327000. Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc. Registered office 25 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HN. Registered in England and Wales no. 10399850. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under registration number 119278, 169628 and 763256 respectively.
Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc. Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH has its registered office at Thurn-und-Taxis Platz 6, 60313 Frankfurt, Germany. The company is registered with the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, HRB 111650. Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH is supervised by the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht.
Eligible deposits with us are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). We are covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Please note that due to FSCS and FOS eligibility criteria not all business customers will be covered.
While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information provided is correct, no liability is accepted by Lloyds Bank for any loss or damage caused to any person relying on any statement or omission. This is for information only and should not be relied upon as offering advice for any set of circumstances. Specific advice should always be sought in each instance.