Making the most of natural capital

The Kennel Club was founded in 1873 and is the largest organisation in the UK devoted to dog health, welfare and training, ensuring that dogs live healthy and happy lives.

Knight Frank and The Buying Solution assisted The Kennel Club with the purchase of the Emblehope and Burngrange Estate in March 2016.

Consequently, Knight Frank was instructed as managing agent for the day-to-day running of the estate focusing on the main objective, set by The Kennel Club, to create “a centre of excellence” for the training of working dogs.

The 7,550-acre estate in Northumberland is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to the biological importance of a significant area of its peatland.

“The SSSI poses many challenges when running both a sporting enterprise and a working farm. It was therefore paramount that a strong relationship was established with Natural England to ensure we could not only satisfy The Kennel Club’s main objective, but explore additional potential revenue streams,” explains Christopher Terrett of Knight Frank’s Rural Asset Management team who, together with colleague Katharine Beswick, oversees the day-to-day management of the estate.

Most recently, Knight Frank has conducted a strategic review of the estate that resulted in a number of actions.

These include the continuation of the harvesting of commercial timber plantations, the delivery of a new Countryside Stewardship Agreement aligning with The Kennel Club’s future objectives for the estate, and a recommendation that a headline natural capital audit be completed to provide a baseline summary of the estate’s natural assets and their condition.

The audit will also help to identify wider opportunities in relation to ecosystem services and corporate responsibility solutions. Once complete, it will allow The Kennel Club to create a green balance sheet for the estate to start to recognise and quantify the capital value of the natural assets and inform the organisation’s broader strategy.

Given the importance of the peatland in particular, it was recommended that previous reports on that part of the estate be reviewed to help develop a specific peatland strategy. This would include a condition report, consideration and costing of repairs and enhancements, a review of funding opportunities and an accurate assessment of the value of future carbon sequestration capabilities.

“Using the estate to help deliver its own net zero obligations could provide The Kennel Club with significant corporate benefits and cost savings,” says Christopher. “Depending on the extent of the offset required, the estate may be able to sell surplus carbon credits to third parties,” he adds.

Mark Johnstone, the Club’s Chief Financial Officer, says, “Since The Kennel Club acquired Emblehope and Burngrange, Knight Frank has been proactive in ensuring the estate is managed to meet our objectives, at the same time as satisfying our obligations as owners of an SSSI.

The exciting work they are now doing for us seeking to unlock the value of the estate’s natural capital, as well as delivering a new Countryside Stewardship Agreement, will put us in an excellent position to realise our future ambitions for the estate, and thereby support our broader strategy.”

What is Natural Capital? Find out more here