Personal Profile

Name: Dan Murphy

Office: Salisbury

Department: Food and Farming

Background

Growing up in rural Norfolk I had always decided on pursuing a career in agriculture. I graduated from the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester with a degree in BSc (Hons) International Business Management (Food & Agribusiness). Alongside the degree I worked on arable and livestock enterprises, did a five month placement at a chartered accountants in their farms and landed estates division and spent time in a local rural consultancy firm. I then joined Savills in September 2018 as a food and farming graduate.

TYPICAL DAY

As a graduate in the food and farming team every day offers something new, for instance I could be carrying out research into the opportunities for farm and rural business diversification on-behalf of a client or assisting in the preparation of rural business appraisals, financial projections and budgets. I am also involved in the basic payment and countryside stewardship scheme applications, landlord and tenant matters and one-off consultancy jobs.

A typical day would begin with liaising with other food and farming colleagues in the office to see if any outstanding work is a priority and is needed for the clients or other professionals. I would be assisting with the day-to-day farm management for a number of clients and would be in regular contact with the farm managers discussing points like cash flow projections or cropping rotations. I could then be carrying-out a one-off grant application to help rural development for a client through the countryside productivity scheme.

BEST THING ABOUT YOUR ROLE

Best thing about being a food and farming graduate is the variety of work you get involved in and the responsibility you get from the outset. There is also a good ratio of office-based time to getting out and about on farm to talk to clients about their farming businesses.

OUT OF OFFICE

When out of the office I like to get back to Norfolk and catch-up with friends, of which most are working in agriculture. I am also a steward and member of the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association.

wHAT DO YOU THINK OF SAVILLS AS A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT?

Savills offer by far the best learning environment in comparison to other farm consultancy firms and the two year food and farming graduate pathway allows you to complete your British Institute of Agricultural Consultants (BIAC) qualification. As a graduate within Savills, you join a team of experts in their field which exposes you to the ultimate learning environment.