Spear’s Review

‘Landowners have got to be proactive,’ Payne Hicks Beach partner and head of the property department Rupert Burchett tells Spear’s when asked to provide a piece of advice to HNWs who are in the midst of future-proofing their estates. ‘Income streams are changing, as is the wider tax landscape. It’s a more austere environment.’

The key, he explains, is for landowners to diversify and focus on new opportunities presented by renewable energy and natural capital. In his role as head of agriculture and landed estates at the firm, Burchett most often works with UHNWs and their families, and notes that the younger generations have particularly embraced regenerative and organic farming.

‘They’re finding new ways to operate,’ the Oxford graduate says. ‘They want to improve the environment in which we live, whilst also enabling themselves to earn an income and of course produce food that we all need to eat.’