OJ Neil Contracting Ltd >>
and safety we have a fl oating team so that everyone get a de- cent break. It’s all too easy in farm- ing to work two or three or four weeks solid when the weather is good, but that’s dangerous, and we can’t be open to that risk. Every- one’s got families and needs rest time. We rotate staff in the same way for energy crop harvesting.
Staff
“I’m very lucky with my staff: with- out them I haven’t got a business. And we use the same subbies every year so relationships are built and it makes the business easier to run.” Working with bigger compa- nies has enabled Olly to learn from industries outside agricul- ture. To take up the Thames Wa- ter contract, OJ Neil Contracting had to become part of the auditing scheme Achilles, which involves annual external assessment, and scored very well. Now the business is working towards the interna- tional accreditation standard, ISO. Last year also saw a new
company set up, OJ Neil Bi- omass, which runs along- side OJ Neil Contract- ing and is run by Richard James.
It’s a development
of the contracting work with AD plants which often gives access to digestates and biosolids, and in- volves swapping them for straw. “We’re running a closed loop system which the power stations like: the energy crop produces electricity, the digestate from that process, spread on the land, is swapped for straw, which goes to produce further electricity at the power station, and then ash from that process can go back on the land. It also ensures that in most parts we are replacing more organic matter than we remove with the straw take-off.”
Balers
The biomass business is running six balers: three full-size Hesston 2290s, a midi 2170 and two min- is, and three self-loading Heath bale chasers. Nearly all the straw is coming from farmers who were
mistakes, but everything we do is calculated, so we get the work and then we get the ma- chinery for it, or at least we do the two at the same time. It’s really risky to be buying expen-
previously chopping it. Tractors are hired in from the main busi- ness or externally. A further devel- opment will come this year with the blending of biosolids with com- post, delivered before harvest in return for straw.
Spending time driving a trac- tor for four or fi ve years helped Olly see the wider opportunities available within an agricultur- al environment, but he’s happi- er in the offi ce now: “I’m more re- laxed keeping on top of things in the offi ce, looking for new oppor- tunities and trying to differenti- ate ourselves, making sure we’re making good margins. “Cash fl ow is so key to any busi- ness. I’m not saying I haven’t made
sive machinery if you don’t know if you can pay it off. “It’s hard letting go of control, but you learn what you’re better at, what you enjoy, and then get other skill sets to fi ll the gaps. No- body is less or more important in business: we’re all cogs in a wheel, we’re all in it to make a living and enjoy what we do.”
The business has tripled in size since moving to its current premises near Bury St Edmunds four years ago, and plans are now underway to custom-build a new base for completion in 2018.
CONTACT
T: 01284 811509 E: offi ce@ojneil
contracting.co.uk
W:
ojneilcontracting.co.uk
Pleased to support OJ Neil
Contracting
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layout.indd 1
layout.indd 38 ANGLIA FARMER • JUNE 2017 1 15/12/2016 10:48 15/12/2016 10:48
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