SAC Consulting | Our Customer Pack

SAC Consulting

How we can help you

Independent advice. Trusted expertise. Driving sustainable growth.

Agricultural Advisory

Agricultural Advisory

Independent advice. Trusted expertise. Driving sustainable growth

We provide independent, expert advice to farm businesses of all sizes. With a network of 24 offices, we have over 100 consultants who work, live, and (in many cases) farm and croft in the areas they serve. Our agricultural consultants have a broad knowledge of all farming and crofting enterprises and have strong connections across the wider industry.

We deliver independent advice and trusted relationships designed to match the unique needs of your business. We work to improve business efficiency, nurture growth, and offer sustainable solutions for people who run agricultural businesses. We offer guidance on current policies, improving efficiency and advise on how best to meet the evolving needs of the landscape.

Our teams have vast experience in areas such as farm support payment and grant schemes, NVZ (Nitrate Vulnerable Zone) and nutrient planning, or sustainable systems including managing biodiversity or carbon, with the benefit of our accredited carbon calculator tool, Agrecalc, to offer in-depth insight and baseline emissions data.

A unique aspect of our support comes from our national office network and local delivery; providing independent solutions, advice, and services, tailored to your needs, and delivered locally in your region. We are well established in the communities we live and work in throughout Scotland, with trusted teams giving a depth of understanding to local issues and local opportunities. We also have a team of experts throughout England working to support customers with English policy and practices.

We are part of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), and this unique positioning creates connections into research and education, together with wellestablished industry networks and partners. Our connections add value to our collaboration across regional teams, working with more than 100 SAC Consulting technical specialists, creating a range of unique opportunities for our customers as they rise to the challenges of food security, biodiversity and climate change.

With a focus on continuous improvement, our support aims to build long lasting sustainability for customers, our communities and encourage positive change in the industry. We want every customer to feel supported, better informed, connected, and better resourced for the future.

Most of all, we are here for you when you need us.

Working with you

We offer a wide range of independent consultancy services, from every day advice to bespoke packages of support.

Subscriptions

Our core service, the subscription, provides monthly and quarterly technical updates alongside support from local agricultural consultants for advice on all rural related subjects.

Livestock nutrition

Silage analytical testing and independent livestock rationing creating tailored, cost-effective rations for optimal animal performance.

Livestock records

Comprehensive and user friendly management software for cattle and sheep to enable maintenance of both statutory records and management requirements.

Livestock management

We offer sheep, beef and dairy husbandry expertise with detailed farming system reviews. We take a whole farm approach to improve sustainability, productivity and profitability in all aspects of livestock production, breeding, feeding and grazing systems.

Arable services

Our team of BASIS qualified consultants can provide growers with independent agronomy advice, supported by up to date information from our research and trials colleagues.

Carbon auditing footprinting and mitigation plans

When climate change is driving policy, a carbon audit using Agrecalc allows businesses to understand what their emissions are, where they are coming from and how to take steps to build a more climate and financially resilient farm.

Biodiversity and conservation

From Agri-environment applications through to bespoke habitat surveys, we can help you manage and improve the biodiversity on your farm and croft.

NVZ and nutrient planning

Nutrient planning service ensures the nutrient requirement of crops and grassland is met by taking account of the soil nutrient status, crop residues and additions of available mucks and manures.

Grassland management and improvement

Our grassland specialists combine research, analytics, agronomy and management strategies to help you maximise production from grassland and forages.

Soil health and improvement

Our soil health test helps growers to better understand their soils.

Lab analysis (soils, silage, manures and waste)

Our laboratory provides a range of nutrient analysis for soil, grain, manures and wastes providing growers with the key information for improved nutrient planning and management.

Crofting services

Our team are experienced in all areas of crofting regulation and crofting grants, including croft registration, assignations, apportionments, decrofting and CAGS grants.

Organic production

Whether navigating the organic conversion process and rules or adapting arable rotations to build fertility, we can help with all aspects of organic production.

Waste management services

We provide waste and by-product services to a variety of business and contractors linked to distilleries, abattoirs and food manufacturers. These services vary from soil and waste analysis, SEPA compliance, and management of contractors and land banks.

Business planning and funding applications

We can help with all aspects of business planning including succession planning, tenancy bids, contract farm agreements, benchmarking, grants and schemes applications. We are FBASS accredited, therefore able to offer ILMP grant funded business planning.

Bookkeeping and financial management

We offer a full bookkeeping, cash flow and payroll service, using Xero accounting software to provide a bespoke service tailored to suit your needs.

LivestockmanagementArableservices

Carbon auditing, footprinting and migration plans

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Subscription Services

Our core service, the SAC Consulting Subscription, provides farmers and crofters guaranteed access at a reduced rate to local consultants for advice on all rural related subjects.

There are several levels of subscription for our farmer clients.

All subscription packages come with benefits which are exclusively for subscribers, including:

• Independent advice from local consultants*

• Discount on additional time with consultants

• Discount on other SAC Consulting services including SAF completion

• Unearthed monthly newsletter

• Unearthed Local quarterly newsletter

• Biannual Perspectives Magazine sent to your door

• Subscriber events

• Entry to SAC Consulting meetings

• Text and email alerts, reminders, and news

• Priority access for other services

• Technical notes

* The number of hours advice included in the package varies with the package chosen.

Your subscription will be serviced by a team of expert consultants in a local office who know the area you live and farm in and the challenges and opportunities you face. Our consultants give independent advice and backed by a wealth of industry research, connections, and knowledge.

Subscriptions can be used for all manner of advice from business management, arable, livestock, grassland, crofting, carbon, biodiversity, conservation, and everything in between. SAC Consulting is unique in having access to worldclass research which we translate into on-theground application, as part of SRUC. In this way, we have national support and local delivery, tailored to you. We also have access to an independent laboratory for analysis of soil, feeds, and crops.

Our unique position ensures that we can provide tailored advice and a balanced view on the three key aspects of running a successful agricultural enterprise – food production, biodiversity gain and climate change mitigation.

With the challenges ahead for the industry, we believe the independent advice you receive through your subscription will be essential to ensure you have the knowledge and confidence to thrive and grow.

To enquire about our subscriptions and prices, please contact your local office.

Crofting and Small Farm Services

From agri-environment applications, through to succession planning, we can support you to manage and improve your small farm or crofting business.

Subscription services

The best way to keep up to date in an ever-changing crofting landscape is to subscribe to one of our croft and small farm subscriptions.

Subscriptions offer a combination of services, including regular written updates, subscriber meetings, time with your local consultants and discounts on additional services.

We offer three flexible packages, depending upon what level of support you need.

Crofting grants and support schemes

Changes to support payments are on the horizon and crofting can punch above its weight in terms of farming for nature, delivering on many of the Government’s biodiversity aims. The rules around funding support can often be complex. However, you can benefit from timely advice from our local advisors, who are always up to date, looking ahead, and can help you to ensure that your crofting business is financially supported and sustainable.

Common grazings

Our advisors work closely with the Crofting Commission and are well placed to help you with your common grazing. We can advise on setting up an active committee, cooperative structures, agri-environment advice, and many practical livestock and cropping issues. With income coming in, common grazings can add facilities such as fanks, weighing systems, crushes, and sheds.

Crofting Commission applications

Crofting legislation can be confusing, but we specialise in crofting regulation work and are here to assist with applications. From sub-lets, assignations, decrofting or apportionments, to croft registrations. We can be here to help with the family conversations that need to happen, to ensure that succession happens in a timely manner, guaranteeing that future generations can work the land and continue to live in thriving crofting communities.

Technical advice

Livestock underpins the Scottish agricultural beef and sheep systems, with high quality beef calves, lambs and draft ewes springing from the crofting areas. Our advisors help to make sure your business is optimised by looking at rationing and testing silage, especially important with increasing feed costs.

We can help you with soil sampling and getting your soil fertility right, to improve your crop of grass, which will always be your cheapest feed. We have practical experience locally, and can draw on expertise from our specialists and research teams, working nationally.

We have staff and offices in all the crofting counties, many of whom are crofters and small farmers themselves. Our team is experienced, independent, and ready to provide friendly, reliable, and expert advice and support.

Give us a call or email today to find out how we can help your croft or small farm progress. For more details or cost breakdowns, contact us on 01870 602336 or email crofting@sac.co.uk.

Potato Services

The SAC Consulting potatoes team provides independent, research-based consultancy covering every aspect of potato production. Each member of our team is highly knowledgeable, and we have a broad knowledge base connected to wider support and resources from across SRUC.

Our team stands apart by being actively involved in applied research, encompassing everything from agronomy field trials to plant pathology diagnostics. Each year, we conduct an extensive field trials programme across Scotland, covering critical areas such as late blight control at our dedicated site in Ayr, innovative potato cyst nematode (PCN) management methods in Angus, integrated pest management (IPM) strategies for aphid and virus control in Aberdeenshire and many more cutting-edge studies.

With specialised laboratory facilities, we provide an expanding suite of diagnostic tests. Our team’s experience in plant pathology allows us to support clients in offering hands-on expertise that ensures our recommendations are grounded in firsthand research.

We provide unbiased, up-to-date insights, ensuring you receive clear guidance on the latest technical developments. Every member of the SAC Consulting Potatoes Team is actively involved in applied research, including agronomy trials and plant pathology diagnostics, and we collaborate closely with the industry to offer training in various areas, such as the annual Roguers’ Course and tuber disease identification courses.

For over 25 years, the SAC Association of Potato Producers (SACAPP) has been the trusted partner for potato producers, agronomists, and industry providers across Scotland and beyond.

Our expertise includes:

• Potato agronomy and storage: Knowledge and experience in crop management and storage solutions.

• Diagnostics and interpretation: Access to diagnostic testing and expert interpretation of results to guide effective actions.

• Field trials and analysis: Advanced expertise in field trials, with detailed analysis of results for real-world applications.

• Integrated pest management (IPM): Customised IPM strategy development for sustainable crop protection.

• Research collaboration: Strong connections to leading research institutes, including the James Hutton Institute and SASA, for extended research insights.

For more details, contact us at potato@sruc.ac.uk

Farm Business Management Services

Providing a suite of business management tools to enable you to build good financial habits. This will help your business thrive, so you can manage the day to day with confidence.

Building the good financial habits that work for your business will depend on what you need and how often you need it. Every business is different, and our experienced consultants will work with you to offer financial analysis solutions that are tailored to your business needs and farming type. This helps you plan for the future with confidence, and allows you to manage your business to achieve the goals that you set.

Our independence ensures that you can trust that we will offer you the most relevant service for your business, appropriate for your farming context, and reflecting the wider economic conditions prevalent at the time. Whatever your ambitions are as a business owner and manager, we have an offer to suit you.

Whole farm budgeting

If your business is complex, we can help you build a picture of how each enterprise contributes to your whole farm budget. By doing an annual budget, then monitoring it against actual income and expenditure as you go through the year with an external check in from one of our consultants, you give your business every chance of staying on track to meet your targets. We can also prepare budgets for contract farming tenders, allowing you to visualise your growth ambitions, assess their viability, and make the appropriate offers.

Cash flow forecasts

Completed over a range of timescales depending on your business need, we can do this in conjunction with annual whole farm budgeting. This helps you to avoid surprises in your conversations with funders, so you can run your business with confidence.

Our more detailed analyses can help you with assessing significant capital investments, scenario planning for system change in your business, prepare for contract farming bids, for purchases of additional farm businesses, and for succession planning.

Why SAC Consulting?

Our consultants are embedded in your local agricultural practice, bringing their regional knowledge and experience of working with many farm businesses, to deliver the best contextual insights for your business. They bring their agricultural productivity research backed knowledge specialisms to this work to get the financial answer right for your business enterprise mix.

To find out more about our farm business management services, please email sacconsulting@sac.co.uk

Arable and Agronomy Services

Supporting the development and optimisation of your land for better soil health, system efficiency and crop performance.

Our independent research-based advice can help you meet your goals whether it be improving soil health, moving to a regenerative system, more efficient use of inputs or maximising margins from your arable and potato enterprises. The services we offer include:

Independent agronomy

• Agronomy which optimises yield while maximising financial margins

• Cost transparency through the decoupling of advice, chemical supply, and application costs

• Ability to shop around for chemicals to maximise value or use a buying group who will do it for you

• Whole farm system tailored advice that can include crop nutrition, agronomy, and rotation planning

• Local consultants, you can trust, who know your farm and the area

• Backed by the latest Scottish research

We are not tied to any one supply company, product, or service and therefore you can trust us to choose a cost effective solution for your business.

Fertiliser planning and nutrient budgeting

• Tailored nutrition for your crop requirements using the latest Scottish fertiliser recommendations

• Utilising organic manures on farm to reduce purchased fertiliser and save money

• Simplify the fertiliser planning process. Ensures compliance with NVZ and farm assurance regulations

Fertiliser planning and nutrient budgeting will help to maximise financial margins while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Soil health

Soil health is an increasingly important part of any farming system. Resilient soils help to make your business more resilient and cope with changes in climate.

We offer a detailed soil health check which reviews the biological, chemical and physical properties of your soils. This includes the Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS) developed by SRUC soil scientists.

Every soil and farm are different, and we can tailor our advice to meet your needs and help tackle the soil challenges on your farm.

Carbon auditing

Analyse your farm’s carbon footprint using our award-winning carbon calculator Agrecalc.

• Understand where your farm’s emissions are generated

• Benchmark your emissions against other businesses of the same type

• Prepare your business for changes in agricultural policy and the associated compliance requirements

Our experts can provide mitigation strategies to help reduce GHG emissions, which closely link to improvements in efficiency and profitability.

Regenerative farming and agroecology

Regenerative farming is seen as a way of reducing emissions from your farm by adopting sustainable practises. Food based companies are increasingly aligning their supply chain to farming systems sympathetic to biodiversity and sustainable farming methods.

Our consultants have been involved in providing advice on these systems and help develop a system that is right for you. This is based on SRUC’s knowledge and long-term research in organic and sustainable farming systems.

Benchmarking

It is important to know your cost of production when selling into a variable commodity market. Our consultants use nationally recognised benchmarking programmes and can help review your financial and technical performance. This enables a holistic approach to be taken when advising your business.

Contract farming and whole farm management

Contract farming agreements are becoming increasingly common as a method for both landowners to step back from day-today management of their farm and enable growing farming business to expand.

Our consultants have practical farming background and can advise on the setup, tendering process, and management of contract farming agreements for both parties.

For those businesses investing in land, we can also offer a whole farm management package.

Our qualified, trusted, and experienced consultants can help you to maximise business efficiency and technical performance on your arable and potato enterprises. As part of SRUC, we have access to world class research, meaning our independent advice is evidence based.

For more details and cost breakdowns for these services, contact us on arable@sac.co.uk

Biodiversity and Conservation Services

From Agri-environment applications through to bespoke habitat surveys, we can help you manage and improve the biodiversity on your farm and croft.

SAC Consulting provides high quality biodiversity and conservation to farmers, estate managers and other land-based professionals. Our team includes highly experienced conservation consultants who are members of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM).

We carry out a wide range of ecological surveys and provide habitat and species management plans and expert advice on habitat creation and restoration.

This includes:

• Biodiversity audits

• Agri-environment schemes

• Moorland management plans

• Grazing management plans (including designated sites)

• Native woodland management

• Invasive species management

• Protected species surveys (badgers, otters, water voles, birds etc.)

• Species protection plans

• Habitat surveys and site monitoring

• Regulatory compliance (wildlife legislation, cross-compliance)

Much of our work is through our traditional client-base in the rural land management sector, where we provide environmental grant aid advice and draw up agri-environment schemes. We also work with conservation organisations, agencies and commercial clients including architects, windfarms, housing and property developers, golf courses, quarries, and utility companies.

Whether you want to improve habitat for pollinators, draw up a grazing plan for a species-rich grassland, plant a hedge, work to protect lapwings and curlews on your farm or you need an ecology survey for a planning application, we can help deliver the trusted support and expertise that you need.

Our key strength is that as well as having the necessary ecological expertise, our conservation consultants have a detailed understanding of farm and estate management and the policy environment that affects those sectors. This means that advice is realistic and takes account of the constraints that can exist within a landbased business. As biodiversity becomes a key component of the reformed agricultural support schemes, access to expert, independent advice will be increasingly important.

For more details and cost breakdowns for these services, contact SAC Consulting on helen.bibby@sac.co.uk.

Bookkeeping and Payroll Services

We provide a full bookkeeping and payroll service to suit your needs. Our experienced team utilise Xero, the industry leading accounts software, to ensure you receive a quality service which results in useful financial information for your business.

Bookkeeping

Utilising our bookkeeping service will free up your time from financial compliance, leaving you more time to focus on running your business. By providing expert support, SAC Consulting can provide peace of mind and assurance that VAT regulations are met, and that bookkeeping is kept up to date.

Good quality bookkeeping has significant benefits for businesses. It provides useful management information for forecasting and compliance, reduces the time spent on annual accounts and tax, and ensures compliance with HMRC regulations.

At SAC Consulting, we are proud to partner with the industry leading software ‘Xero’ - a cloudbased program which gives you easy access to your information through your computer, tablet, or phone. A Xero bookkeeping solution from us means you can choose how much involvement you have and stay connected with your business.

Our team of Xero certified bookkeepers are experienced in bookkeeping for agricultural and rural businesses. We currently act for a wide variety of clients, from those who fully outsource the bookkeeping to SAC Consulting, through to those who complete their own bookkeeping but use our knowledge and expertise to support their business. We can also provide setup and training on Xero to allow you to undertake your own bookkeeping and be compliant with HMRC legislation.

Payroll

HMRC are tightening up the definition of a ‘self-employed contractor’ and as a consequence, many more farmers find themselves ‘employing’ people who in the past could be treated as self-employed.

Being an employer requires a payroll system, which many farmers find daunting. SAC Bookkeepers can help with the setup and ongoing operation of a simple payroll system for your business and have experience dealing with all aspects of payroll.

For more details about our bookkeeping and payroll services, contact SAC Consulting on xero@sac.co.uk.

By-Product Management Services

Reduce your waste material and by-products by making use of their agricultural potential.

In production systems, waste materials are inevitable, and resulting by-products need to be managed. Rather than viewing them as waste, your by-products often have a value to agriculture.

As the world looks ever more closely at how waste materials are managed alongside their environmental impact, a robust approach to safely managing waste materials is vital to protect the company’s reputation. If done correctly, responsible recycling of by-products can actually enhance your company’s brand, showcase your brand values, and demonstrate your desire to protect the surrounding environment.

It is therefore crucial to have a process in place that establishes corporate responsibility and a proactive approach to using waste materials for benefit wherever possible to reduce landfill.

Using waste materials for agricultural benefit poses risks but working with a professional organisation to develop and enforce your company’s waste management process can mitigate that risk and ensure added brand value in being able to market the brand position regarding safe and responsible environmental management.

A professional approach to waste management is therefore integral for company image and insurance premia going forward. Investing in SAC Consulting to provide your waste management services is an approach that demonstrates your company’s brand values and promotes your desire to protect the surrounding environment from negative influences that could arise from your activity.

Within its broad service offering, SAC Consulting provides waste and by-product services to a variety of businesses and contractors linked to distilleries, abattoirs, and food manufacturers.

• Working with SEPA to ensure the application process meets all relevant requirements.

• Professional team FACTS and BASIS qualified with National coverage across Scotland and Northern England.

• Independent laboratory for analysis of soils and waste materials –UKAS accredited (7624).

• Flexible options including:

• Soil analysis

• Waste analysis

• Paragraph 7 submission

• Paragraph 7 annual returns

• Liaising with SEPA

• Help with sourcing land bank

• Managing contractors

• Bespoke environmental and agricultural consultancy

SAC Consulting offer all the above separately, altogether as a package, or variations to suit you and your business.

For more details and cost breakdowns for these services, contact SAC Consulting on 01343 548787 or email Elgin@sac.co.uk.

Nutrient Budgeting and NVZ Planning

Optimise nutrient application to crops and grassland by targeting organic manures and fertiliser applications whilst within the boundaries of Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) regulations.

Fertiliser is a major variable cost for your business, and we can help you to optimise the applications of bagged fertiliser, whilst making the best use of the organic manures on your farm. With nitrogen applications regulated in some areas under Nitrate Vulnerable Zones, we can also assist with the annual preparation of NVZ plans, whilst planning N, P K and S applications for the year ahead. Our local FACTS qualified experts are highly experienced in creating both nutrient budgets and NVZ plans. We regularly undertake this work for customers and are well equipped to help you with fertiliser budget and record keeping.

NVZ inspections can be a worry for farm businesses, as there are many rules to fall foul of. Having an annual meeting with a consultant can help to prepare you for the growing season, developing a plan for you that can be easily referred to, ensuring there are no crosscompliance breaches. Additionally, during this process we can discuss phosphate and potash applications for the year. We can also keep your records or check any fertiliser records annually. This way you can be confident that you will have no issues when it comes to NVZ inspections.

How we work

Creating a tailored nutrient budget starts with individual field soil analysis. This is the farm baseline upon which we create the recommendations, which are based upon soil type, previous crop, yield data and straw removal,

amongst other things. This information, coupled with an analysis of your organic manures on farm, builds a picture of the nutrients currently available on your farm and ensures that you only purchase any additional nutrients required, and can make best use of them. This plan is generated on a field-by-field basis, giving you both field level recommendations and an overall purchase list for fertilisers. As an independent consultancy, we can also help you to compare grades of fertiliser based on commercial quotes and advise you on the best value for money options.

Services we can provide:

• NVZ plans

• NVZ record keeping

• Check of NVZ records

• Soil analysis

• Organic manures analysis

• Field level fertiliser advice

• Full farm nutrient budget

• Costs comparisons of fertiliser grades

• SAC Consulting offers all of the above separately, as a package, or with unique variations to suit your business.

For more details (and cost breakdowns) on these services, contact your local SAC Consulting office or send an email to SACConsulting@sac.co.uk.

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Agri-Environment and Grant Advice (England)

Our advisors can help farmers utilise current and future funding schemes to boost productivity, improve efficiency and enhance the environment.

Productivity

For farmers in England, funding could help you to:

• Invest in equipment, technology and infrastructure to increase productivity

• Improve soil health and nutrient management

• Protect animal health and welfare

• Improve water and air quality

• Reduce flood risk

• Protect species, habitats and biodiversity

• Mitigate the impacts of climate change

• Create and manage woodland

• Assist with diversification and public engagement

• Fund research and development

We will work with you to determine the most appropriate schemes and tailor a set of actions unique to the business’s aims and objectives. These schemes can deliver payments to improve soil health and biology, increasing crop yield and grassland productivity.

We have helped farmers obtain funding towards new technology and equipment such as robotic milking machines, livestock handling equipment, and crop sensing technology to boost farm output. We can assist with diversification opportunities and add value to farm produce to generate an additional source of income.

Efficiency

Using our practical farming knowledge and expertise in farm business management, we can identify suitable grant opportunities that will improve efficiency and reduce input costs. We have helped farmers to;

• increase slurry storage capacity for better use of inorganic fertilisers,

• improve soil structure to increase nutrient uptake efficiency,

• obtain technology to reduce labour costs and fuel consumption,

• improve animal health and welfare to enable better livestock performance.

Sustainability and the environment

Farmers are coming under increased pressure to adopt practices that will protect the natural environment and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Using our local knowledge and understanding of the wider environment, we can advise on stewardship schemes to help businesses become more sustainable. Actions could include managing grazing to protect ground-nesting birds, maintaining habitats such as hedgerows and buffer strips to enhance biodiversity, or managing nutrient use to protect water courses from pollution.

Our consultants will keep you up to date with various grant opportunities that will help improve farm infrastructure, reduce ammonia emissions and protect water quality. We can help facilitate long-term projects to mitigate flood risk, create woodland or enhance natural capital that will contribute towards net-zero.

To find out more about how we can help you, contact our team on Kendal@sac.co.uk.

Livestock Services

From reducing system input costs, to implementing a grazing strategy and transferring knowledge from research we can help make your livestock systems more resilient for the future.

Meeting the increasing food demands of the population with diminishing means of world supply, while supporting human health, and enhancing the environment is both a challenge and an opportunity for the livestock sector.

Our skilled specialist livestock team can assist businesses with adapting systems through their practical knowledge and technical skills, which is supported by independent research and our network of veterinary investigation officers. We are located across Scotland, but also operate throughout the UK with a team that is both accessible and responsive.

We thrive in finding solutions to difficulties within a system and how to adapt it to provide the best mix of outputs with minimum use of non-renewable inputs (e.g. enhancing grass management to reduce purchased feed) while sustaining a food supply for the local and global market.

We can provide fresh, independent eyes to look over your business, which can identify weaknesses or waste within a system. With this, the system and the geography in mind, advice can be given to enhance productivity and profitability within a business.

Our services include:

• Independent reviews and system analysis

• Reduced cost systems e.g. low input systems, outwintering, grass management strategies

• Rationing of livestock, bespoke to your ingredients and silage analysis

• Financial appraisal of whole farm systems

• Grassland management systems and computer software

• Mitigation strategies

• Data management and interpretation

• Implementing regenerative or holistic systems

• Training for farm staff and other agricultural businesses

We are well respected within the agricultural industry for transferring knowledge and we participate in many red meat supply chain initiatives and producer groups, as well as keeping abreast of the current markets, trends, and sector challenges. Our client base includes, farmers, processors, retailers, industry bodies, social enterprises, research institutions, universities, livestock markets, and many more!

As part of SRUC, the livestock team has access to a wide range of experience across the organisation, drawing on the practical and local knowledge of our network of farm advisors, to specialist livestock specialists and scientific researchers, bringing together an unrivalled level of experience and depth of understanding.

To explore how we can help your business, contact us on livestock@sac.co.uk

Dairy Advisory Services

Providing technical and financial advice to dairy farmers and taking a whole farm approach to improving the sustainability and profitability of dairy farming systems.

Supporting you as you manage, develop, and grow your dairy business through our specialist services, including:

Forage analysis and nutrition

Independent, unbiased nutritional advice and rationing for the dairy herd using Dietcheck software. Our nutrition experts are passionate about providing cost-effective based solutions to optimise performance. Our analytical laboratory can carry out a range of forage and feed analyses to include mineral content.

Nutrient management plans

Our plans include soil and slurry analysis so that nutrient requirements can be matched to crop demands. As well as helping ensure crop yields are optimised, organic manures can be best targeted to reduce purchased fertiliser requirements, improve soil health and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Carbon audits

Analyse your farm’s carbon footprint using our award-winning carbon calculator Agrecalc. Our experts can provide mitigation strategies to help reduce GHG emissions, which is closely linked to improvements in efficiency and profitability.

Financial management

We can provide a range of financial services to your business including forward budgets, cashflow planning and business reviews which will help you plan for the future, deal with volatile dairy markets, or get financial support from your bank or lending provider.

Dairy herd management

Our team of consultants have experience in herd management backed up by knowledge from our own SRUC dairy farms and SRUC vets. Our vets will work alongside your own veterinary practice to provide specialist advice in dairy herd health.

Dairy costings

Monthly dairy costings can be carried out with our benchmarking programme, MilkNet. This can be used to monitor herd output and financial performance on a monthly basis. The system records monthly milk produced and milk income, along with composition and hygiene quality, changes in cow numbers and calvings, purchased feeds used, and feed costs. From this information, monthly changes in milk output and income can be easily tracked.

MilkNET

MilkNET is an internet-based, interactive dairy costing system which allows farmers to track and benchmark herd output and financial performance on a monthly basis. Herds can also be benchmarked against others based on herd size and annual yield information. The online portal operates on the milk quota year from 1st April31st March. It can record physical and financial information about the dairy herd and enables benchmarking total gross output from milk sales, whilst deducting costs of bought in feeds.

We evaluate data from the following feeding efficiency KPI’s:

• Milk from forage

• Concentrate use per cow

• Concentrate use per litre

• Margin over concentrates per cow

• Margin over concentrates per litre

These efficiency measures allow assessment of milk production efficiency and can identify areas for improvement when benchmarked against similar herds. MilkNet can also be used to forecast future milk production and produce a full Cost of Production report.

Our qualified, trusted, and experienced consultants can help you to maximise business efficiency and technical performance in the dairy herd. As part of SRUC, we have access to world class research, meaning our independent advice is evidence-based.

For more details and cost breakdowns for these services, contact SAC Consulting on dairy@sac.co.uk.

Growing Great Grass

Combining research, analytics, agronomy, and management strategies to help you maximise production from grassland and forages. Homegrown forages and grass provide a cost effective, high quality and sustainable source of feed to your business.

Our team of experienced, trusted consultants can help you to navigate the various components required to improve the profitability and sustainability of your forage systems.

Our specialist advice includes:

Soil health

A healthy soil requires the physical, biological, and chemical components of soil to work to be working collectively. Our experienced consultants can provide advice on optimising soil health ensuring they provide the environment for superior forage production. Using SRUC analytical services we can carry out a range of chemical and biological tests to compliment physical soil assessments providing you with a soil management plan and baseline data.

Nutrient management

Using forage, soil, and organic manure analysis our FACTS qualified advisors can assist you with optimising crop yield, quality, and soil health with a targeted Nutrient Management Plan for crop and soil requirements. Helping you to reduce reliance on purchased fertiliser and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Agronomy

Our BASIS qualified consultants provide independent advice with an integrated approach to crop management, considering aspects such as soil health, crop rotation, environment, and pesticide use. SAC agronomists will ensure you are up to date with the latest research data and technology through trials conducted at SRUC, using analytics to make evidence-based decisions to maximise profitable crop production.

Grassland management

Our specialist grassland consultants can help you to implement grazing systems, providing services to help you identify what type of management will suit your farm, plan the implementation of new systems, provide information on grazing principles and the tools to help you maximise your management of grass, improving farm output from grass and forages.

Our GrazeUP service takes grassland advice one step further with system analysis to support you in developing agile, reactive, and future-proof farm businesses.

For more information, contact grazeup@sac.co.uk

Forage system development

Utilisation of forage crops is critical to the success of a profitable system. Our experienced advisors can help you plan, design and implement your forage system ensuring high utilisation, increased animal performance and minimise the environmental impact of using forages to improve profitability and sustainability.

Analytical services and interpretation

Soil, forage, and manure analysis help to provide real time data to assist with management decisions, but this data can also be used to profile the longer-term trends across your farm and measure the effectiveness of practices implemented on farm. SAC consultants can help to interpret this information to provide both the immediate responses and longer-term strategic decisions to improve business efficiency.

We bring together a collective range of skills from across SRUC, encompassing analytics, research, and veterinary, ensuring our independent consultants have the skills and services to put your business first.

For more details about these services, contact your local SAC Consulting office or email SACConsulting@sac.co.uk.

Sheep Husbandry

Providing detailed sheep systems reviews and expert independent advice to improve flock productivity and profitability in all aspects of sheep production.

Supporting you as you manage, develop, and grow your flock, in times of rising input costs and volatile stock prices, towards a profitable sustainable future through our services including:

Technical and financial performance review

We’ll work with you to review your flock technical performance, including benchmarking key performance indicators (KPIs) to better understand flock performance and identify opportunities to improve flock productivity.

Combined with financial analysis (gross margin calculations, full accounts analysis and forward budgeting) we can work with you to promote flock profitability and reduce the cost of production. Whilst, through carbon auditing we can help you develop mitigation measures to reduce the carbon footprint of your flock.

Flock management

Our team of livestock consultants have a wealth of practical experience of flock management. With support from across SRUC, they are best placed to advise you on all aspects of sheep production, including flock husbandry, nutrition, disease control, grazing, breeding, sales strategies, data, and technology use.

Maximising production off forage

Our consultants can work with you to develop a sheep system that maximises production off forage, promoting performance and output/ ha whilst reducing reliance on purchased feed and other inputs. A key component of this is grazing management, for which our grassland specialists provide expert advice to refine grazing strategies and optimise pasture utilisation.

Advice on all aspects of forage crops is available from species selection, agronomy, feed budgeting and grazing system design as well as subsequent pasture reseeds and improvement.

Nutrition

We also offer independent and unbiased nutritional advice and rations using Dietcheck software. Our nutritionists will help you optimise pregnant ewe diets to promote ewe performance and lamb survival whilst also making the most from forage to reduce costs. Whilst at other times of the year providing feed budgeting, mineral supplementation, and lamb finishing advice.

For more details about these services, contact your local SAC Consulting office, or email livestock@sac.co.uk.

Ruminant Nutrition Veterinary Subscription

Supporting veterinary professionals and practices across the UK and Ireland.

What are we offering your vet practice?

• One to one nutritional support from SAC Consulting experts so that you can provide the best possible advice to your clients.

• Independent and unbiased ruminant nutritional advice which means that you can effectively support case work for beef, sheep, and dairy clients.

How will it work for you?

We provide you with an annual subscription service giving you the flexibility to pick and mix what you need.

Advice is offered on a case-by-case basis, such as interpreting a silage analysis or offering more detailed nutritional support like sense checking ration formulation or mineral nutrition advice.

There is a choice between a basic subscription (2 hours support/quarter) or premium subscription (3 hours support/quarter). We review your subscription during the year to check that it is meeting your needs.

Added benefits include:

• 10% discount on SRUC veterinary CPD and options such as Sheep & Beef News

• Access to the wider SRUC/ SAC Consulting network

Sign up today!

Contact: livestock@sac.co.uk for more information or visit www.sac.co.uk/livestock

Laboratory Services

Optimise your outputs with soil and forage analysis.

Our diverse laboratory testing and analysis services (in soils, forage, animal feed, organic waste, serum, and tissues) give you access to results that you can trust.

Whether you want to improve milk yields or beef production or understand the potential of your soils and maximise your crops, we’re ready to test your samples.

Customers of SAC Consulting can benefit from our local and trusted office network where they can deposit soil and forage samples. We’ll supply you with the correct packaging, log the samples for you using our digital portal system and take care of the logistics. Whatever you need, we make the process simple and strive to deliver a quality service that makes a difference to you and your business. Let us make it easy for you.

Our service is offered through a unique partnership with Eurofins Agro Testing UK and is the only one of its kind in Scotland to blend in house commercial laboratory testing with research, reporting and consultancy.

We offer guidance, support, and continuity for our customers from the moment the sample is taken, through to interpretation and advice once test results are delivered.

All testing is accredited to either UKAS standards ISO 17025 or BSI ISO 9001 and our highly specialised laboratory staff work closely with our consultants and offices to maintain quick turnaround times and comprehensive understanding of your results.

Our full list of tests and prices are available on request, and we are always happy to field enquiries about tests and analysis that may not appear on our list.

Get in touch with your local SAC Consulting office for more details.

Food and Footprint

Food and Footprint

Research-backed end-to-end sustainability solutions.

The route to net zero is different for every business, typically requiring action on equipment, processes, decision making, and business culture amongst other things. Even once these are addressed, there might be unavoidable emissions that you are unable to manage out, and that need to be offset.

Alongside these challenges, there are also huge opportunities for those willing to commit to the journey. For example, efficiencies, new sources of finance, new products and markets or opportunities to differentiate. The route can seem daunting, even impossible – especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who do not have significant in-house expertise or capacity.

SAC Consulting – building on a entury of advising on agriculture, food, and rural land use – offers extensive expertise in modern environmental and business consultancy. Our integrated offering, Food and Footprint, means we offer the breadth and depth of consultancy needed to take meaningful change. Our diverse teams, available for discreet consultancy or end-toend engagements, bring both complementary knowledge and experience.

Our work across Scotland, the UK and internationally, is diverse. We advise estates on everything from carbon footprinting, peatland restoration and ecology, to new forest planting, carbon markets and diversification. For food and drink SMEs, we advise on areas such as carbon management, new product development, life cycle analysis and marketing, amongst other things.

We work with public sector clients on areas such as natural capital accounting, carbon footprinting and sustainable packaging. For corporate clients, we work on everything from carbon management to wider supply chain sustainability. Our clients range from innovative seaweed farming business KelpCrofting, to South of Scotland Enterprise, and Marks & Spencer.

Choosing SAC Consulting also means access to the research power of our parent organisation, SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College), creating confidence in the robustness, independence, and credibility of the advice. It also opens up the potential to engage leading researchers in projects and access to multi-millionpound research facilities. By drawing on the cutting-edge knowledge and technology of the wider SRUC and combining that with an appreciation of the economic and practical realities of business, we are your full-service sustainability partner for the journey ahead.

“The collaboration with SAC Consulting has proved crucial for the success of this project, as we want to ensure we are both facts based, and science led in our decision making”

-Steve McLean, Head of Agriculture and Fisheries and Business Lead on Low Impact Farming, M&S Food

Bringing together consultants and researchers to provide businesses and stakeholders comprehensive advice and services

Environment Team

From carbon auditing and life cycle analysis, to mapping and use of remote sensing technology such as drones and satellite data, our team of skilled environmental professionals will equip your business with robust data and the insights needed to help you move towards being a more sustainable business.

We can help you achieve environmental compliance, identify renewable energy solutions, and assess and restore biodiversity and habitats. From enhancing and supporting your natural capital to meeting net zero targets, we will develop a tailored, comprehensive approach to enhance and support your environmental and business needs.

Food and Enterprise Team

We work with food and drink businesses, supporting sustainable growth through strategic marketing, communication asset creation, product development, skills development, data and technology development, and diversification. We also deliver circular economy strategy and support, including carbon management plans, life cycle analysis, carbon knowledge exchange, resource benchmarking and mitigation advice, and we have a growing expertise in green finance.

Through our integrated land management capability and an understanding of the value of natural capital, we work with clients to think strategically about the natural assets present in a landholding, landscape, or larger region, and how these can deliver positive outcomes for diverse stakeholder groups. The team provides a range of training to support skills development to enable sustainable business development, including collaboration with key partners to deliver a weekend school for food and drink and rural entrepreneurs.

Supporting Sustainable Businesses

From carbon management to identification of natural capital assets, we can help your business demonstrate and grow your sustainability credentials.

As the need to accelerate progress towards net-zero, support biodiversity and adapt to a changing climate gains pace, the fixes become more challenging and complex.

Whether you are looking to identify carbon mitigation measures throughout your value chain or enhance natural capital assets and support ecosystem services, we can help. We can provide valuable insight and practical solutions to develop and strengthen sustainability credentials for your business.

We have the right mix of consultants, specialists, and researchers to provide an accessible and responsive, yet rigorous and comprehensive, blend of advice and practical services.

Our services include:

• Life cycle analysis and carbon management plans

• Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG), including carbon credits and value chain initiatives

• Natural capital assessments

• Biodiversity analysis and advice

• Drone mapping

• Our Verification and Validation Service as part of the IUCN Peatland Code

• Employee engagement with netzero via Carbon Literacy Training

Environmental credentials are becoming more important to consumers, suppliers, and investors. All sectors are under pressure to minimise environmental, ethical, and social impacts from their activities. Enhancing and demonstrating your environmental credentials could drive efficiencies, build resilience, help to comply with current or future environmental regulations and science-based reporting targets, and attract a more environmentally aware customer base.

The environment team brings together a wide range of experience across both SAC Consulting and wider SRUC. We draw on the practical and local knowledge of our network of farm advisors, to specialist carbon and ecology consultants and scientific researchers, bringing together an unrivalled level of experience and depth of understanding.

We work across Scotland, the UK and internationally, with a client base that includes farms and estates, co-operatives, processors, retailers, environmental non-governmental organisations, the public sector, and investors. Our team of specialist consultants offer an informed, impartial, and robust approach to help you identify, manage, and achieve your low carbon and nature-based ambitions.

To explore how we can help your business, contact us on environment@sac.co.uk

Drone and Geospatial Services

From habitat surveys to digital terrain mapping, we can help you take a different view of your business.

With an increased focus on our natural capital stocks, carbon mitigation measures and supporting habitats and biodiversity, we offer a range of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) services to clients, making use of the latest technology and tools to provide numerous opportunities to our customers.

Our drone pilots are approved by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and our in-house team of expert analysts will help you make the most of the data they collect. Utilising a range of sensors, including survey-grade RGB, multi-spectral and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), along with advanced processing and mapping software, we ensure accuracy and quality in our data outputs.

Using this technology, we can produce precise outputs and high-quality data, opening up new pathways for data analysis, interpretation, and visualisation. Our specialist team can interpret this information and provide you with maps, data, and images to offer a comprehensive picture of your land. We’ll provide tailored suggestions to help you achieve your management objectives, both in the short and long term.

Whether you’re a rural landowner, manager, conservation body, agency, or a commercial organisation, we are committed to supporting your needs and assisting you in realising your net-zero and nature-based ambitions.

To explore how we can elevate your business, contact us at environment@sac.co.uk

Our services include:

• Aerial surveys, topographical mapping and 3D modelling

• Natural capital management: habitat and biodiversity monitoring and assessment, peatlands survey and monitoring, carbon stocks

• Woodlands: crop health, windblow assessment, digital terrain modelling (DTM) for harvesting, success and failure mapping, stocking density

Biodiversity and Ecology Consultancy

Supporting your business to measure biodiversity impacts and uncover opportunities to mitigate nature-based risks.

Biodiversity underpins life on earth. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat are all supported by the ecosystems that make up our planet. The value of these ecosystems is becoming increasingly recognised and with this recognition comes an urgency to protect and restore them.

While biodiversity loss remains a global concern, we believe the best solutions are local, and every business can play its role in tackling the nature emergency. Our team are here to support businesses, large and small, to take positive action to restore and protect their natural assets.

Our team of experts have a sound knowledge of Scottish Farming systems enabling them to work with farmers to find realistic solutions that are practical to implement.

How we can help:

• Biodiversity audits and practical recommendations for enhancement

• Habitat surveys and mapping (e.g. Phase 1, UKHab, NVC)

• Designing bespoke frameworks for biodiversity monitoring

• Biodiversity accounting and biodiversity uplift (e.g. Biodiversity Net Gain)

• Natural capital assessments

• Specialised biodiversity monitoring (e.g. insect pollinators, acoustic monitoring)

• Herbivore impact assessments and grazing management plans

• Habitat management plans (woodland, peatland, moorland)

• Nature-related risk assessments

• Drone surveys for habitat extent mapping

• Ecological surveys for planning proposals

• Preliminary ecological appraisal, ecological impact assessment

• Protected species surveys (e.g. breeding bird, otter, badger, water vole, great crested newt)

There is a desire across sectors to act responsibly and protect the natural assets that their business depends on. We can guide you through how to monitor your natural assets, determine their condition, identify risks, and demonstrate how your business is taking positive actions to protect and restore these assets. With healthy ecosystems being more resilient to future shocks (environmental, climate, social and economic), restoration is not only good for the planet, but also makes good business sense. Acting now will help your business meet future requirements to monitor, assess and disclose their impacts on biodiversity and to mitigate against nature-based risks.

Our team of professional ecologists combine robust research skills, ecological knowledge and a sound understanding of Scottish habitats and the species they support. From years of working with land managers, they can provide tailored advice that is practical and viable to deliver on the ground.

As part of SRUC, we draw from experts in every field, from natural capital governance to economists and agronomists. Our team of specialists provides an impartial, robust, and tailored service to help your business protect and restore its natural assets. Together we can tackle the nature emergency.

To explore how we can help your business, contact us on environment@sac.co.uk.

Carbon Management and Life Cycle Analysis

Are you ready to quantify, understand, set targets, and implement plans to reduce emissions across your company’s value chain? Our sustainability professionals can help.

The demand from consumers, investors, and government to tackle climate change is driving a shift in how our supply chains function. The first step on your sustainability journey can be the calculation of your companies’ emissions.

We have expertise in Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) to a product, company, and industry level under the relevant ISO and GHG protocol standards. Our wide expertise in land use and knowledge of agricultural systems makes us particularly effective in dealing with what can be the most complicated and elusive elements of GHG emissions accounting; your Scope 3 emissions from agriculture and land use.

We have supported companies to grow their understanding of their emissions impact; identifying emissions hotspot areas and, crucially, identifying and quantifying practical, cost-effective interventions which could reduce emissions from these hotspots.

Setting science-based targets is a crucial step and companies setting targets under the Science Based Targets Initiative (STBi) has been increasing over the past number of years. SAC Consulting have helped companies align targets with SBTi and get validated for SMEs and larger companies. With the introduction of the Forestry Land and Agriculture guidance under SBTi, the importance of understanding the impact of land use in terms of emissions and removals and setting relevant and meaningful targets has become increasingly important for companies with significant agricultural value chains.

Utilising SRUC researchers, we have cuttingedge insight into the effectiveness of agricultural interventions at both a local and global level. We provide you with peace of mind that our plans will have the desired impact on scope 3 emissions and align with relevant international standards.

Alongside our environment and sustainability team, we have a range of agricultural specialists in areas such as beef, sheep, dairy, pigs, poultry, potatoes, barley, and wheat, to name a few. This mix of sustainability and agricultural specialisms provides us with a unique advantage when supporting your engagement with agricultural supply chains.

We have led pilot programmes to baseline emissions across high emitting agricultural products for major retailers, followed up by engaging with their farmer suppliers to advise on the most cost effective, practical, and realistic solutions that would reduce the emissions both on farm and the overall scope 3 emissions of the company.

This blend of corporate sustainability expertise and grassroots agricultural consultancy allows us to provide a full end to end solution for tackling your scope 3 emissions. When producing GHG Management Plans, we strictly follow the GHG Management Hierarchy, focusing on elimination of GHG sources and reduction of GHG emissions in the first instance. However, we can also offer guidance and support in instances where carbon removals are required to tackle residual emissions. We’re here to help whether you’re looking at removals associated with agricultural production under the FLAG guidance, insetting across your existing value chain, or guidance and support on the purchase and use of high quality carbon credits. We have extensive knowledge of global voluntary carbon markets, specifically nature based and agricultural markets, and are ready to help you to achieve and demonstrate your low carbon credentials.

If you want to know more, get in touch with environment@sac.co.uk.

Natural Capital and Ecosystem Service Assessments

Take stock of your natural capital assets, their supply of ecosystem services, and unlock wider business, investment, and landscape opportunities.

Natural Capital is the term for resources that have an economic value or provide a service. For example, plants, soil, air, and water can all be considered part of our natural capital.

Natural capital assets supply a flow of benefits to land managers and wider society including supply chain and catchment organisations. We can produce bespoke natural capital reports that identify assets present in an area, the current ecosystem services supplied by them, and the opportunities available to land managers, project developers and community groups that are working on place-based projects.

Our expert teams use a unique, tailored approach to each project, ranging from land management interviews, desk-based surveys, on-the-ground assessments, to custom UAV surveys. We can design and deliver farm, estate and landscapescale reports that identify ecosystem services and align with your project or business objectives. We then identify specific dependencies across natural capital assets and the risks if these ecosystem services are lost or degraded, alongside practical actions to regenerate and identify new opportunities or diversification.

Reports include:

• Natural Capital Registers (NCR): A natural capital register gives a baseline for your project and helps you identify and capture any change in natural capital assets and supply of ecosystem services. Natural capital registers are a key component of landscape nature restoration projects, preparation of new estate plans, and farmer cluster groups collaborating with a shared objective.

• Priority Ecosystem Service Assessments (PESA): Supply chain and stakeholder organisations are realising the value and interdependencies that ecosystem services can supply. PESA reports demonstrate the value of natural capital assets that are currently, or have the potential to, supply specific ecosystem services. Examples include soil erosion regulation reports required by stakeholder organisations with an interest in water quality, or habitatspecific pollination reports for projects looking to pollinator increase connectivity.

Our natural capital reports compile information across your project area into one digestible report. We can incorporate information from existing surveys into our toolkit, whether this be carbon management plans, biodiversity surveys, or soil maps. We aim to reduce the demand on our clients to collect data as we understand time is valuable.

We know that no two projects are the same, and the needs for a natural capital report can be diverse. Our bespoke assessments utilise the breadth of knowledge in our team and across our local offices throughout the UK.

Find out more about how we can help you; contact us environment@sac.co.uk

Mentoring and Coaching Services

Find the right balance and help your team to meet your business goals with coaching and mentoring

SAC Consulting offers both coaching and mentoring for businesses working in a range of sectors, and industries. Both coaching and mentoring contribute to personal and professional development, but each serve very different purposes.

Coaching: Primarily focuses on personal development, performance improvement, and achieving specific goals. It is forward-looking and action oriented. The process is structured and provides tools, and feedback as outcomes. Coaching can be delivered to any person, or group of people, regardless of their field or industry.

Mentoring: Aims to guide professional growth by sharing experiences, insights, and advice. It is often informal and flexible. Mentors and mentees tend to come from the same field or industry.

Our coaching offer has helped entrepreneurs and SMEs to build their businesses and create brand new ones. We have helped food and drink producers list their items with major retailers, we have supported individuals, giving them the self-confidence and resilience to rise through the ranks with their employer. We support families and business partners to deal with tricky subjects like succession, succession planning, expansion planning and business sale.

Our coaching offer falls into the following eight disciplines;

Type Definition

Executive Coaching

Leadership Coaching

C-Suite Coaching

Confidence Coaching

Mediation Coaching

Life Coaching

Executive coaching is a personalised development process for those in senior positions, aimed at enhancing leadership skills and achieving strategic goals.

Leadership coaching develops EQ (emotional intelligence) , interpersonal skills, communication techniques, motivational techniques and managing difficulties. It empowers individuals to succeed in any environment.

C-Suite coaching develops much needed skills and confidence in executive decision making, empathetic leadership, stakeholder engagement, influence, ethics, transparency and accountability.

Confidence coaching is a personalised one-to-one form of coaching, that empowers the individual to build self-belief, self-assurance, overcome their doubts, and communicate their needs, beliefs and value well. Confidence coaching can also be used to help professionals to pitch and sell their products or services effectively.

Mediation coaching is a hybrid between the practice of mediation and conflict coaching. This type of coaching can be conducted one-to-one or with partnerships, small groups or families. It seeks to ensure that each individual involved is able to voice their needs and avoid un-needed conflict. It builds resolution and agreement.

Life Coaching is the process of helping someone find the path between where they are now and where they want to be. It involves setting and achieving goals in various areas of life, including business, health and well-being, career, relationships, and work-life balance. Life coaching provides guidance to inspire positive changes, such as overcoming bad habits, managing stress, and developing creativity.

Integrated Coaching

Integrated coaching takes elements from all of the disciplines above, and builds a bespoke coaching experience completely tailored to the individual and their needs at that moment.

NLP Coaching NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming. It’s a powerful methodology that focuses on understanding the interaction between the mind (neuro), language (linguistic), and patterns of behaviour (programming). NLP helps people communicate more effectively, learn faster, and develop personally to enhance their quality of life and improve their professional success.

Our mentoring offer includes experts from the food and drink sector, retail, tourism, rural land use, production environments, and consultancies, to overcome specific industry hurdles, and to grow our client’s professional reputation and reach. If you are looking to develop in one of these fields or have a specific issue that you want to explore with an experienced person, then mentoring may be right for you.

In both cases we help people to find balance in their life, using a holistic approach to ensure their personal needs and dreams are still achieved whilst delivering excellence professionally.

Get in touch with the team today if your team could benefit from some extra support to meet their goals. Contact foodanddrink@sruc.ac.uk

ESG and Sustainability Strategy Consultancy

Supporting you to build the ESG strategy that your business needs

In the current climate, sustainability strategies are no longer optional for businesses. Strong pressure from legislation, stakeholders and customers mean that a business must add this to their agenda to continue to be competitive. Issues surrounding ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) now form a more significant focus for business leaders, investors and board members.

What is an ESG Strategy and why do I need one?

An ESG strategy is a framework for supporting an organisation of any size to operate sustainably and responsibly. Encompassing a range of considerations, ESG serves to identify, measure, report on and improve the impact a business has on the world around it and the communities in which it operates

Environmental; The impact of your business on the environment and the environmental risks to your business. Your direct operations as well as your supply chain will contribute to this. When creating your environmental plan, you may wish to consider topics such as; emissions, operating efficiencies, biodiversity, your packaging. Supply chains and waste management.

Social; How your business manages people and interactions, including relationships with stakeholders. It requires consideration of human rights, working conditions, inequality and transparency in the supply chain. We can also include subjects such as recruitment and retention, community impact and business impacts on welfare & health.

Governance; Addresses internal practices and systems. How your business governs itself and makes decisions. Important topics like, corruption, audits and reporting. Transparency, accountability and ethical behaviour are the key headlines here. Every company requires governance and you may wish to scrutinise areas such as procurement practices and access to finance.

A comprehensive ESG strategy can support your business in a significant number of aspects, both financial and non- financial, including but not limited to:

Access to capital

Recruitment & retention

Commercial opportunities

When considering engagement, lenders or investors will now seek to understand a business’ wider impact as part of their investment making decisions, creating responsible investment portfolios an their own ESG reporting.

An organisation with a clear purpose, focussed on delivering a positive impact can act as an excellent tool for recruitment, as well as retention – boosting job satisfaction and giving employees a strong sense of purpose

A responsible operator with a robust ESG plan will find it much easier to navigate procurement systems, export regulations and customer requirements.

Access to markets

A compelling marketing approach

Operating transparently and with a hands-on approach to sustainability can provide significant reputation benefits to businesses, with perceptions of trustworthiness and ease of doing business

A robust ESG plan will help you weave your sustainability journey through your customer marketing with integrity and authenticity.

Making sure your strategy is woven through the rest of your business is key – it shouldn’t be a standalone project and should easily integrate with your operational and sales plans.

Our team has a diverse set of industry experience across a variety of sectors, from FMCG and retail, to food and drink manufacturing, tourism and export. With access to the latest research and legislation guidance,

we’re ready to help you create a realistic and achievable sustainability strategy today.

A great place to start is an evaluation of your current position – for a top level understanding and more information about creating an ESG or sustainability strategy for your business, contact foodanddrink@sruc.ac.uk today!

New Product Development Services

Providing recipe development, reformulation and new product development (NPD) services to food and drink businesses

SAC Consulting has a wealth of expertise in delivering new product, reformulation and recipe development projects with SME’s, entrepreneurs and large food and drink producers all over Scotland and the UK.

Our Development Chefs, work in partnership with industry to develop innovative new food products, whilst our expert consultants support you to take them to market.

Our expertise is focused on developing products that are tasty and have the correct flavour profiles, texture and visual appeal so they are suitable for your target market.

Projects can include:

• Overcoming technical challenges on food products

• Recipe development to improve taste and texture

• Reformulating product for health and to improve production costs

• Developing new, innovative food prototypes

• Scaling recipes for mass production and food safety compliance

• Packaging; design, sustainable packing options, labelling guidance, retailer preferences and compliance

• Marketing, market research and brand advice

In addition to our NPD services, we can also help your business take your new products to the next level, we offer a full complement of support including;

Market research

• Feasibility and viability

• Flavour trends

• Market opportunities

• Sustainable sourcing and supply chains

Business support

• Business, strategy and sales planning

• Perfecting your pitch

• Retailer & wholesaler engagement and sales planning

• Organisational skills development

• Marketing with particular expertise in sustainable marketing

Funding Opportunity

We can also, in some cases, provide NPD services using funding from the Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher Scheme (which offers funding up to £7,500 for first time collaborations between academia and Scottish SME’s). This funding stream must be matched by an in-kind contribution, rather than a cash contribution, which can include attending meetings, supplying ingredients, carrying out taste sessions and supplying feedback.

If you are interested in collaborating with us to create an innovative new food product or overcome some of your technical challenges in production, contact foodanddrink@sruc.ac.uk to discuss your needs and we can work together to craft a tailored support plan.

SME Business Support Services

Expert advice and support to take your business to the next level

Running a business of any size is an exciting and unique experience, as such, there will always be challenges to navigate as your business grows. Many business leaders are excellent at wearing multiple hats as they rise to new opportunities in their business journey. However, sometimes external guidance can be just the right thing to help you to take your business to the next level

Whether you’re a maturing business preparing to scale, or a large enterprise looking to improve processes and unlock efficiencies, our team of consultants can provide fresh perspectives helping you to see new opportunities and act on them effectively.

The SAC Consulting team has diverse industry experience across a variety of sectors, from global sales and marketing for FMCG brands, retail buying and operations, food and drink manufacturing, tourism, and export.

Every business can benefit from consultant support. Consider some of the most significant advantages of engaging additional expertise;

Cost savings and profitability

Industry expertise

Outside perspective

Our business consultants’ capacity to optimise operations by reducing expenses and boosting profitability is one of their strongest qualities. We can assist you with financial planning, implementing cost-saving strategies and more effective working practices that could boost sales or improve services and goods.

We have members of the team with specific industry experience in a wider variety of fields, including FMCG, food manufacturing, agritourism, retail and agricultural management. In addition, our teams are highly skilled in delivering support in more widely applicable fields, such as stakeholder engagement or sales and strategy planning, as well as employee engagement, recruitment and retention.

It can be easy to get tunnel vision when building your business, concentrating on keeping all the plates spinning and having an operational focus. The fresh perspective of an outsider can often support with improvements, opportunities and ways of working you may not have considered that will support your business to manage costs and better achieve your ambitions.

Short sprints

Hiring can be challenging and this can be especially difficult for small businesses. When you are under a time constraint, it may take several months before you can recruit a person, which is not always a viable alternative. Engaging one of our consultants can give you immediate access to an expert who can begin to create value quickly. Without becoming permanent, they can assist you for as little or as long as you require.

Networks Engaging our consultants will unlock a new network and networking opportunities, which can be crucial to the success of a growing business. Expanding your business network may present opportunities for growth, funding and industry expertise.

New ideas

Our consultants can apply their objectivity to significant creative solutions. They are not constrained perceived ways of doing things whilst also applying sensitivity to an organisations history, culture and processes.

Our team has unrivalled expertise and experience to support you with:

Preparing to scale

• Business planning to secure planning or investment.

• Feasibility, viability and desirability reviews

• Natural capital assessments

• Planning applications

• Stakeholder and community engagement

• Customer experience

• Sourcing strategies

• Development of investment decks

• Pitching coaching and support

• Project management

Improving business performance

• Strategy development

• Marketing and branding support

• Support with grant funding applications

• Attracting, retaining and optimising people

• Recruitment and retention

• Mentoring and coaching

For more information, or to discuss your individual business needs, get in touch on foodanddrink@sruc.ac.uk for an initial chat on how we might help you and your business.

Sustainable Marketing and Brand Consultancy

Ensuring your brand and marketing activity effectively showcases your sustainability credentials as well as your offer to customers

Is your business committed to going ‘green’?

Do you need help communicating of the wins you’ve had in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices? Feeling lost when it comes to using terms like carbon footprint, carbon neutral, and net zero in your brand messaging or marketing activity?

It’s crucial for businesses to authentically convey their sustainability efforts to consumers. Our team is here to help your business take sustainability to the next level and find effective ways to communicate your commitment. We bring expertise in decoding sustainability jargon and steering you away from misleading issues which could be interpreted as ‘greenwashing’, ‘greenlighting’, or ‘socialwashing’, whilst offering valuable insights and support into developing strategies that are tailored for your business. Let’s work together to craft an authentic sustainability message that truly resonates with your customers.

As the consumer and supply chain focus on environmental and social sustainability and carbon messaging intensifies, nailing the right messaging for your business and making sustainable decisions have never been more essential.

How we can help you..

• Marketing and brand audit: From marketing materials, messages and channels to your brand itself, we’ll do a full audit to help you to identify areas that may need improvement and also pinpoint new growth opportunities. A thorough audit to ensure that your current messaging and brand assets are authentic and aligned with environmental, social, and governance considerations and regulations. We will help you to identify any immediate areas of potential legislative or reputational concerns in existing copy and communications assets, and help you to mitigate them with integrity and authenticity.

• Sustainability credentials: We can help you to weigh up the pros and cons of existing market credentials and certifications that align with your business context, and could greatly enhance and strengthen your business’s position.

• Sustainable marketing and brand strategy: Using the findings from our audits or credential review, we can co-design a sustainabilityfocused strategy to supercharge your marketing and brand activity, and help you to understand how you might put it into practice.

• Sustainable product packaging review: We offer a review of your current product packaging, and use our experience to equip you with the information to evolve your pack strategy. We help to ensure you are sourcing and using the most sustainable option for your product or businesses, with clarity on product or food safety requirements, material selections or recycling information.

Effective sustainability communication enhances your reputation and brand by demonstrating a strong commitment to sustainability. This not only fosters trust and loyalty among customers who prioritise environmentally and social responsible brands, but also gives your business a competitive edge through differentiation. Embracing sustainable practices helps you to minimise risks and ensure compliance with regulations for seamless business continuity. Furthermore, an authentic commitment to sustainability attracts and retains top talent, as employees take pride in working for socially responsible companies.

Our certified carbon-literate experts are ready to help you fine-tune your brand and marketing activity to convey the perfect socially responsible message for your business. Our goal is to elevate your business to the next level of climate communications and embed sustainable practices which minimise environmental impact and enhance your profitability.

Get in touch with foodanddrink@sruc.ac.uk to explore how we can help your business today.

Diversification Services

Supporting your business diversification from planning to delivery in the rural and agricultural industries

Diversification is an increasingly popular business strategy which increasing numbers of businesses pursue in an effort to spread risk, pursue growth and create additional income streams. It can be an excellent opportunity to review your assets, engage skills of family members or employees and futureproof your business.

Providing business support and specialist advice to scope out and manage the delivery of diversification options for SME’s and rural land-based businesses, SAC Consulting can offer advice and expertise across hospitality, leisure, retail, agritourism and value-added products & services.

We can help you with:

• Business planning to secure planning or investment.

• Feasibility, viability and desirability reviews

• Natural capital assessments

• Planning applications

• Stakeholder and community engagement advice

• Customer experience planning

• Strategy sourcing advice

• Recruitment and retention strategies

• Marketing and branding advice

• Support with grant funding applications

Our experts have a wealth of expertise in delivering business support services, from economic viability and business planning, through to full scale retail design, sourcing and customer experience management.

Whether you’re looking to understand options for your current assets, develop a business plan or feasibility study, or engage project management support – we can provide tailored support to realise your plans.

We’re ready to support your business with your next diversification project, so get in touch with foodanddrink@sruc.ac.uk today.

Carbon Literacy Training and Accreditations

Futureproof your business with Carbon Literacy training and qualifications

Our accredited training has been designed specifically for agricultural, food and land-based businesses by SAC Consulting (part of Scotland’s Rural College) and Keep Scotland Beautiful.

With a growing emphasis on sustainable business activity to access funding, and on the measurement and reduction of carbon footprints in the rural, food and land-based industries, it is crucial that there are opportunities to build a broad understanding of the carbon landscape, terminology, and technical information.

The one-day course provides your team, or entire business, with a recognised qualification and the same foundation knowledge to level the playing field towards the Just Transition to net zero, no matter if participants manage a croft or a global multinational.

Participants will enhance their business sustainability credentials and demonstrate commitment to reaching Scottish Government’s net zero targets, while helping to futureproof their businesses. Once accredited, teams can embed the knowledge and skills to take tangible action towards measuring and reducing carbon emissions from routine activities in their business.

With a collective responsibility to ensure that we can all understand the carbon impacts of our work, and our life choices, our training will empower you to consider these everyday choices which can positively impact climate change, engaging the entire workforce with the organisation’s net zero ambitions.

Our aim is to build a broad understanding of the carbon landscape, terminology, and technical information whilst also gaining a valuable training opportunity and recognised accreditation. We want to support working in these industries to own the space, and positively lead the movement towards net zero for their own businesses, as well as within their local communities.

Training options: We offer a range of virtual training, in-person training around Scotland, or even bespoke training delivered within your organisation.

Costs: Prices vary based on the training options required.

Take charge of your Carbon Literacy and enrol your farm business, rural estate, food and drink, aquaculture, or other land-based business today!

Find out more and how to book www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/ carbonliteracy-ruralindustries or email ksbcarbonliteracy@sac.co.uk

SAC Consulting, Peter Wilson Building, King’s Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG

www.sac.co.uk