The Fishing Factor

Dumfries and Galloway Standard June 2008

I have a terrible confession to make.  It is a shame that I share with another tenant farmer whom I will not name in case he is victimised by his neighbours.  The incident, that has brought me to this hellish place where I feel compelled to confess all, happened on a fishing trip that I went on very recently.  A dozen men were assembled at the side of a trout loch near Twynholm; we were the guests of a friend who had bought the day’s fishing at a charity auction.  Lots were drawn to see who would share the four boats that were at our disposal.  I was drawn out along with a man that I know well.  He is a tenant farmer from the Borders and we have known each other for years.  The third member of the crew that was drawn to join us was someone that I hardly knew at all.  The only thing I did know about him was that he is by profession – I can scarcely type the word – a FACTOR!  For those readers who are not familiar with the role that a factor plays in estate management, they are the people employed by landlords to “deal with” tenant farmers like me and my friend from the Borders.   This brings me to my confession which is to tell you that, despite having plenty of opportunity, never at any time during the entire day did my friend or me try to or even feel the desire to throw the man into the water. 

In fact we had a great day and yes the chat in the boat did eventually turn to tenant farming.  The marvellous thing was that it in this very friendly and relaxed situation it gave both parties the chance to speak freely and to even sympathise with each others point of view without it leading to anyone losing ground in a rental negotiation.

The next day after the effects of the après fish had cleared from my head I decided that the experience had left me with it a better understanding of the relationship between factors and the tenants that they have to deal with.

It occurred to me that the reason the average tenant farmer so often comes off bruised and broken after an exchange with a factor is because the factor understands perfectly the viewpoint of the tenant and conversely the tenant rarely fully understands the viewpoint of the factor.

The factor, after all, in the course of his years work will have to deal with a great many different tenants who will present him with a wide and varied range of situations to add to his store of knowledge and understanding.  The tenant on the other hand will only see the factor perhaps once in three years.  These occasions will probably be formal and highly charged situations where the tenant will never get the chance to gain any understanding of the factors point of view.

Maybe there is an argument here that suggests that a change in our working practices needs to be adopted.  The next time a rent review comes up perhaps we should be booking a tee at the golf course or perhaps a boat on a trout loch.  The world looks different in these situations.

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