So many individuals and organisations have been part of Resonance's Twenty Year story, which we have been celebrating this year. We produced a book which included the stories of all those that have been part of our journey, and Sebastian Parsons, Founder of Stockwood CBS talked out how Stockwood and Resonance worked together to put the family farm into community ownership. 

Blending community assets to support sustainable farming
Stockwood Community Benefit Society owns 150 acres of North Worcestershire which is farmed organically and biodynamically. The Society also owns a small rural business park on the farm which provides employment for around 100 people, and a district renewable heating plant and solar panels. Rental plus energy income totals around £300,000.

With over 400 members and over £1.4 million of shareholder investment, Stockwood is a beacon example of community ownership. The income from the business park pays our investors a return – 5% every year since we started in 2014. Today, Stockwood is well established and used as an exemplar, but when it was first conceived no one had ever thought of blending community assets to support sustainable farming. It might never have come about were it not for the support of Daniel Brewer and his team at Resonance.

I met Daniel over fish and chips in the Little Chef just off the Stroud exit of the M5. He quickly grasped the plan and before long we had the business plan fully outlined on one of their rather small napkins. We founded the Society in 2012 and purchased the assets in 2014. During those two years we had to work out how to explain our plan and reach out to the community to appeal for new members. Resonance supported us all the way.

A shared journey towards sustainability
First off, we had to transform the napkin into something rather more substantial. It took months of careful work to focus in on our core message. In the end, it was simple: a shared journey towards sustainability travelled by our whole community, from our business unit tenants to our future investors. We also had to develop the financial side of the business plan, legal application forms, a marketing campaign, a website and all the brochures. I had entered the world of “due diligence” as investors and lenders followed up their initial interest and sought detailed examination of our offer and prospects. The share offer document was pored over, questions formulated, the farm was walked, arms were waved, the vision explained, and investment steadily flowed into the newly opened Stockwood Community Benefit Society bank account.

Daniel and Resonance helped us explain our vision, helped us create the necessary documents and guided us as we created our first Board. Daniel introduced many people to Stockwood, he sat in on many investor meetings and his clear calm explanations set out step by step how we planned to achieve our goals. Later on, once the Society was up and running, we turned our attention to building a renewable energy district heating system for the business park. This time we were able to use the Social Investment Tax Relief to offer investors a tax efficient bond that saved Stockwood money. The start-up journey was a model for this project, and we were soon embedding a 10km pipe into our fields to source heat for our tenants.

Resonance is still Stockwood’s key partner and even now, we are working together on the next business plan and share offer.

By simply doubling our community investment we will pay off our (ethical) bank debt, increasing our cash flow, opening the next chapter in the story of Stockwood Community Benefit Society – our Learning on the Land project.