Livery price increases

[chocolategirl]

Just wondering with the cost of living on the rise, inflation off the scale, and with the energy market set to hit some epic highs price wise, are yard owners going to reflect this with price increases, and livery clients, are you expecting this? If you are, how do you feel about it, resigned or resentful?

 

[teapot]

Imho livery prices (and the add-ons) have been too cheap for too long.

Not saying add a nought to the monthly payment but getting close to reflecting actual costs wouldn't be a bad thing!

 

[chocolategirl]

Do you mind me asking are you a YO or a client? I happen to agree with you btw. Our yard puts the price up by £1 every 18 months! How many other businesses operate this way without going under? I just think with things the way they are at the moment, how are yards going to be able to avoid increases? But equally, this is bound to have a knock on effect to clients with all the other price increases🤷‍♀️

 

[smolmaus]

My DIY base-rate just went up by £5/week in January. It's still cheap for the standard so I'm not complaining. The price increase in petrol to get there is hitting me harder tbh.

There are about 18 horses on the yard so an extra £360 a month income? Can't see that going very far for them really.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

One local YO raised hers 12% on 1st January having given her liveries 2 months notice.
She had already done away with DIYs a few years ago. Only part or full.
Only 1 livery left taking 2 horses, but space filled the day after with others from her waiting list.
This yard never advertises, word of mouth for decent adult liveries only.
Its where I would possibly think about going if I sold up my yard.

 

[ycbm]

I have two quotes for full livery and I'm expecting them to have risen by 10% by the time I am ready to move. Why wouldn't they?
.

 

[holeymoley]

We’ve already had an increase in livery. Shavings have gone up in price. Farrier has gone up in price.

 

[teapot]

Do you mind me asking are you a YO or a client? I happen to agree with you btw. Our yard puts the price up by £1 every 18 months! How many other businesses operate this way without going under? I just think with things the way they are at the moment, how are yards going to be able to avoid increases? But equally, this is bound to have a knock on effect to clients with all the other price increases🤷‍♀️

Five years spent in business management at two different yards and I know what ins and outs are to the penny It blows my mind how cheap some livery yards are! As I said on another thread business management in the industry needs a huge shake up for it to survive and be available to anyone other than the rich elite.

 

[Xmas lucky]

my current livery yard went up 20 percent last year. If it gets any more expensive I will have to go back to dly. I actually think in the future you have to be rich to keep a horse .

 

[Alibear]

I'm resigned to it quite rightly going up, along with my supermarket bills and fuel costs. My issue is that my salary hasn't gone up over the last 2 years, so I'm effectively worse off. I'm working on that too!

 

[Birker2020]

I don't mind paying an extra £5.00 a week if it means we can have a regular supply of toilet roll and the arena is harrowed every other day as there were talks of this at one stage.

I think ours last went up two years ago from memory 7% on extras (bring in/turn out, skip out, etc), before that it was 2014 when they last went up.

 

[chocolategirl]

I'm resigned to it quite rightly going up, along with my supermarket bills and fuel costs. My issue is that my salary hasn't gone up over the last 2 years, so I'm effectively worse off. I'm working on that too!

From what I can tell, most yard owners don’t pay themselves any salary, so if they don’t put prices up, effectively they’re also worse off. Think most people are in the same boat at the moment. Where we are, there’s a glut of DIY yards so prices are kept very low, I just wonder how long that can continue in the current climate though?

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I’m fully diy but won’t be surprised if prices go up this year to pay for increasing running costs. I don’t think there is any way to avoid it. However if they do it’ll be good to remind the YO of what they’re supposed to provide in their contract for our livery money.

 

[Expo]

I've just had my first price hike in 5 years!! ... so not complaining. It's gone up about 10% for a full livery service. The yard and the service are excellent and I know full well it's been too cheap for a while, so I'm smiling and paying it. Another 10% might wipe the smile off though .........

Doing the sums for my yard, the yard income is pretty good (20+ full liveries), but facilities are rented from a local farmer, not owned by the YM, and I have no idea what the monthly/annual rent is, so difficult to say what their profit margins are like. (none of my business really!). Local DIY yards seem to charge a pretty standard local rate which seems on the low side - around £120 - £130 pcm - and friends on these yards are starting to worry about increases.

 

[Goldenstar]

The price that a well run well managed yard charges has to rise they have no choice every cost they have will be going up .

 

[milliepops]

if it went up then i'd have to just accept it like anyone else.
though as above my wages haven't gone up so i'm as screwed as the next person. i will be downsizing my horses tho,i currently have 3 at livery which is ridiculous.

 

[smolmaus]

Doing the sums for my yard, the yard income is pretty good (20+ full liveries), but facilities are rented from a local farmer, not owned by the YM,

I think this is what makes the big difference. There's no way our place would be affordable if it had to be rented inbetween.

 

[chocolategirl]

I’m fully diy but won’t be surprised if prices go up this year to pay for increasing running costs. I don’t think there is any way to avoid it. However if they do it’ll be good to remind the YO of what they’re supposed to provide in their contract for our livery money.

Ours works out at less than £5 per day for DIY, what do you think you can expect for that? Genuine question

 

[Bernster]

Gulp. Previous yard they put the prices up annually and by quite a hike, matching increase national insurance even though that was only a part of the total cost - they applied the % to the whole bill. It meant a few people left but they are generally always full.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Ours works out at less than £5 per day for DIY, what do you think you can expect for that? Genuine question

Mine works out at just under £4 a day for DIY per horse with lorry parking. Private farm, lovely big stone boxes on a traditional yard, kitchen heated in winter with kettle, microwave, TV, log burner, hot water wash with gas provided, massive feed room, secure tack room, 20x60 arena which is 4 years old, turnout on the same field all year round although we can move if the cows have grazed another field down to give ours a rest and no restrictions on turnout. Hay and straw on site but I buy in hay as it’s rye grass and no good for my two. Excellent hacking and 2 minutes to a BE XC course. There are only 3 of us and I’m never ever moving.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Deleted

 

[Dontforgetaboutme]

Ours went up 10% last October when we switched to part from summer turnout. They were less than other similar yards in the area and assume those will have increased their prices since I enquired. I am fortunate that I can have grass livery prices through summer to offset winter part livery

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Ours works out at less than £5 per day for DIY, what do you think you can expect for that? Genuine question

Ours is £5.83 a day. I just expect what’s been agreed in my contract. I’ve been there over a decade.

 

[chocolategirl]

Mine works out at just under £4 a day for DIY per horse with lorry parking. Private farm, lovely big stone boxes on a traditional yard, kitchen heated in winter with kettle, microwave, TV, log burner, hot water wash with gas provided, massive feed room, secure tack room, 20x60 arena which is 4 years old, turnout on the same field all year round although we can move if the cows have grazed another field down to give ours a rest and no restrictions on turnout. Hay and straw on site but I buy in hay as it’s rye grass and no good for my two. Excellent hacking and 2 minutes to a BE XC course. There are only 3 of us and I’m never ever moving.

I’m not surprised you’re never moving!🤣 I’d say your YO is funding your hobby tbh😳

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I’m not surprised you’re never moving!🤣 I’d say your YO is funding your hobby tbh😳

🤣 they are friends and there is a full livery yard on the farm as well so we sort of get incorporated into the bigger picture. I do help them out a lot with dog walking and house sitting but also appreciate just how incredibly lucky I am and I know that if either of the horses die they will be buried on the farm.

 

[Gloi]

Mine has gone up £10/week at the start of the year 🙁 Same time as I got told my gas bill was shooting up.

 

[criso]

The yard I'm at livery is split into stable rent, services consumables. First 2 haven't gone up but as i pay for hay, bedding and feed based on what i use, these will be affected by market rises. Feeds most noticeable at the moment.

 

[maya2008]

I need to raise my prices (not horse related business) so I can afford everyone else’s price increases!

I did have someone ask to rent some of my land (good quality, drains well, grows good grass) for £25 per acre the other day though. Good try, I thought, but given the price of land, not exactly realistic!!!

 

[Nicnac]

Just wondering with the cost of living on the rise, inflation off the scale, and with the energy market set to hit some epic highs price wise, are yard owners going to reflect this with price increases, and livery clients, are you expecting this? If you are, how do you feel about it, resigned or resentful?

Don't forget NMW/NLW increase to be factored in as well as an extra bank holiday this year for those YOs who employ staff. I am always taken back by the low price of livery.
Even having mine at home I have notice costs increase these past few months.

 

[HashRouge]

I'd be a bit annoyed if mine went up at the moment tbh, because there is some serious building work being done on the property and it is causing quite a lot of disruption. A massive big track driven through my winter field by a digger when the weather was wet in summer (you can imagine the mess!), flappy blue plastic absolutely everywhere, some feckwit digging up my winter field gateway to put a drain down (which according to the land owner a) did not need doing until the weather is drier and b) has not been done properly anyway), having to climb across the building site to turn the tap on so I can get water to my stables (via hosepipe) and no vehicle access to the barn because the landowner decided he needed to put in some ponds without sorting out alternative access to the barn first. So I shall be hefting hay bales 100 m at the weekend to get them in the barn, helped by a very obliging farmer. There was already no electric light, so I'm having to deal with all the building site hazards in the pitch dark too atm. I'm already considering a move, a price rise right now would be the absolute last straw.

Under normal circumstances, I should say, I wouldn't mind!