Yard set-up costs

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hph

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An opportunity has come up to buy 60 acres plus commercial units nearby.
I'm working on a business plan to try to secure lending and am getting a bit bogged down in detail.
Can I budget £750 for each 12' x 14' internal stable if buying 15 and fitting ourselves or is that too ambitious?
And how much for feed and tack room alongside?
What size barn do I need to store 30 acres worth of hay?
And how much do I need to budget for CCTV and proper security gates plus other security elements (was quoted £15k for solid 6m aluminium electric gates which seems insane).
Also fencing...how much for wooden posts with thick electric tape/rope to do eight paddocks of two to five acres?
Thank you so much in advance.
 
You will need planning and change of use I would have thought as well. It's best to check this out before you buy.
 
As someone who spends a lot of time looking at business plans the banks etc will be much more interested in you proving the level of income that being right to the £1 on cost side.
What level of livery are you doing DIY/ pat/ full and what is the going rate for these in your area - get other local yard price lists to prove this.
The what is the level of demand in your area, 60 acres less 30 for hay I'm guessing 20/25 liveries, where will these come from? will you facilities be better than others locally (if so prove that with how much you'll invest, sand gallop track, 25 x 65 school, xc course etc that others don't have and have enough in your budget to cover that) or will you attract people by being cheaper (factor into income calculations) or are there huge waiting lists at other yards - get proof of this.
Remember you won't be full day one so have a sensible plan to build up to being full over 12 months, also make yourself look credible by recognising you'll have some spaces as people leave and you take time to fill them again and that some people will do a flit and leave you with out paying
Banks love to see a contingency built into plans so what ever you work out in detail add 20% to the construction costs and 20% on a monthly basis for unexpected ongoing bills.

Contact suppliers for quotes - banks won't care about what strangers tell you on the internet is possible or not.

Storage - DIY if you are allowing them to use own hay/ bedding then easily another 12 x 12 stable size for forage/ bedding/ tack/ rugs/ feed etc. - nothing puts DIYers off more than no storage.

hay is c100 bales an acre so 30 acres is 3000 bales, I find well stacked I can get 200 in a 12x12 stable so that's another c.15 stables worth of space
Spend a lot of time thinking about all running costs, obvious, rates, business insurance, utilities water if metered is huge!, your own insurance so you can replace yourself if you're injured, holiday cover and staff wages (inc increase in minimum wage coming up), field maintenance etc etc. if they spot something obvious you've missed you'll loose their trust quickly!

Good luck
 
It should be easy to work out cost per stable, ask for a quote from Monarch Stabling or another big firm, you may not need to spend that, but you do know the max figure. You can build much cheaper than £750 per internal stable but not so impressive, and it depends how skilled and how resourceful are you, it can take months to build slowly during which time you have no income, or pay more and get going asap. It also depends what sort of facilities and customers you are looking at. Use good locks, plain top bolts plus kick bolts. horses are very destructive, so nothing flimsy.
If building in stages you need to be able to make everything look as though it was all built as one unit, not five monarchs, two breeze blocks and six wooden stables all in the same building.
You can have containers [shipping] for feedstuffs and one for a tack room and one for a bedding store, that would be a minimum cost and not very attractive and not perfect for the purpose either, but secure.
There probably needs to be accommodation on site for insurance, but not 100% sure about that.
The cost of an arena could be be £15/20,000 to a lot more, I mean 30/40/50K It is pretty much essential, and very prone to disaster if not constructed properly. You might eventually need two arenas or a turnout area, the combinations are endless. Most people start off with the basics, so ten stables, and an area for big bales and bedding and tack inside the building, then as the ten boxes are filled, build ten more, puting bedding and tack etc outside.
Fencing, it depends on the size and design of the paddocks, you probably need to use a mains system. Just draw out the field to scale [wallpaper or a very large felt board is good] and then mark out paddocks with map pins and use string to make your paddocks. If your scale is correct you know how much rope and how big a power unit
Have your haylage double wrapped and you can store it outside, you need it close to where you are going to feed, or you need a fork lift truck. Find out how many bales per acre and x30
You need a muck heap and removal arrangements, so the type of bedding is also important here.
Do not budget on doing everything to a minimum standard or a minimum cost, it is going to cost more than you think.
 
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Thanks everyone. I've already factored in insurance, wages, business rates, 60x20 all weather and more. I have an existing agricultural barn in mind for hay storage so that's not an issue. Already factored in machinery and water and so on. It's the stables, security and fencing I'm trying to work on at the moment. Monarch seem overpriced from my research. I have a mainentanxe manager lined up who's installed stables before so just trying to work out the most feasible price to buy them.
There's a proven demand for livery in the area and this plot has doorstep off road hacking and fantastic all year grazing.
There's onsite accommodation.
No DIYers so minimum assisted but would push for part of full. Likewise have trustworthy and experienced grooms lined up.
 
Other internal stable providers are cheval and I think shires do them also, block work (quote from builders) might be worth a look or finding second hand ones - they do come up look on e-bay for a huge range of styles and prices.
 
Yes seen a few on eBay. Plus welders selling their own creations. Thought about block work but want the option to move them around in the future. Thank you!
 
Please can anyone share their monthly/annual water and electricity costs. Seller doesn't have this information and I'm unsure my friend's £600pa for water for 15 horses is accurate.
 
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