No bars, no signal predictedOne bar, reliable signal unlikelyTwo bars, may experience problems with connectivityThree bars, likely to have good coverage and receive a data rate to support basic web servicesFull bars, likely to have good coverage indoors and to receive an enhanced data rate to support multimedia services
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4 bedroom semi-detached house

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Semi-detached house
4 bed
2 bath
584.00 acre(s)

Key information

Tenure: Freehold
Ground rent: £0 per annum | review period: unconfirmed
Service charge: £0 per annum
Council tax: Band D
Water: Ask agent
Heating: Ask agent
Electricity: Ask agent
Sewerage: Ask agent
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Property description & features

  • Tenure: Freehold
Offers Over £7,000,000

• Well-established and profitable Christmas Tree and Firewood business
• Popular and successful Pine Cone Café and Gift Shop
• Pair of semi-detached four-bedroom cottages constructed in 2008
• Additional seasonal workers accommodation currently being constructed
• Range of modern steel portal framed buildings utilised for processing in the Christmas Tree and Firewood business
• Dedicated Renewables and Combined Heat and Power Plant Shed rebuilt in 2019 to incorporate state of the art fire prevention measures and containing two woodchip boilers (1Mw and 750Kw)
• Proposed expansion of the current domestic 8KW solar panel system to increase capacity to 50KW
• A proven 15 KW Wind Turbine
• Approximately 392 Acres (158 Ha) of primarily arable quality land
• A further 192 Acres (78 Ha) of let ground, which will be assigned to the purchaser
• Approximately 1,150,000 Christmas Trees to meet projected demand over an eight year rotation

About 584 Acres (236 Ha) in all

Available as a whole

Introduction
Templeton Christmas Tree Farm is a conglomeration of a number of land parcels in relatively close proximity to the centre of operations at Auchray Farm, which sits on the outskirts of Dundee between Strathmartine and Birkhill, just off the Templeton Road. Auchray contains all of the buildings and associated equipment utilised in the various enterprises carried out under the broad “Templeton Christmas Tree Farm” banner, which consist of three main, yet distinct, business streams namely; Tayside Forestry Christmas Trees, Tayside Forestry Firewood and the Pine Cone Café and Gift Shop. In addition to these three outward facing elements there is also a very profitable fourth strand to the business in the form of renewable energy production which not only makes the business largely self-sufficient in both power and heat, but also generates a consistent significant additional income to supplement the wholesale and retail businesses.

Tayside Forestry Christmas Trees
Tayside Forestry Christmas Trees is one of the UK’s largest Christmas tree growers and has been producing Christmas trees in the heart of the Angus countryside for nearly 60 years. The business currently produces almost 90,000 Christmas trees each year across the approximately 584 Acres (236 Ha) of primarily arable quality land (some of which is rented) that has been steadily assembled through a careful acquisition strategy by the current owners. Existing clients include large retail businesses, wholesalers and garden centres in addition to selling directly to the public from the Auchray Farm site.

There are approximately 1,150,000 Christmas trees planted at present and consist of a mixture of both pot grown and trees to be cut, focussing on the three mains species namely Fraser fir (Abies fraseri); ideal for smaller space due to its slimmer, conical shape and good needle-retention; Nordman fiir; (Abies nordmanniana) by far the most popular Christmas tree variety in the UK for its excellent needle retention and Norway spruce; (Picea abies) what one might consider the most traditional Christmas tree; bushy well-shaped with a classic spruce fragrance representing great value for money and ideal for outdoor use. It is worth noting that Tayside Forestry specialise in producing pot grown Nordman firs and Norway spruce, which have become increasingly popular choices.

The existing restock target is around 100,000 trees each year as a minimum, but this has increased more recently with a deliberate focus on capitalising on the changing domestic market following disruptions and underlying variations to the supply chain resulting from Brexit, concurrent amendments to EU/UK labour regulations, and the import/export of competing stock from the continent becoming more constrained, the result being a pivot toward providing the very highest possible quality locally produced and environmentally friendly trees across the UK.

Tayside Forestry Firewood
Tayside Forestry Firewood are accredited as Wood Assured; the Government backed firewood quality scheme. Specialising in the supply of both hardwood and stovewood kiln dried firewood, with low moisture content. All stock is sourced from sustainable local woodlands within a fifty-mile radius. Processed, dry and clean logs are sold in net, fill your own and bulk bags as well as providing bulk customers with loose logs, nets and their own branded bulk bags.

The business has invested in purpose built drying floors, dryers, and biomass boilers as well as a small wind turbine and solar panel array which is due to be expanded imminently, all with a view to achieving complete off grid self-sufficiency at times of peak demand for both energy and heat. The combined heat and power unit (CHP) also provides additional heat and power to all staff accommodation, on site office and the cafe.

The Pine Cone Café
The Pine Cone Café and Gift Shop has become a very popular destination café successfully corralling a significant and loyal customer base from Dundee and the surrounding area, as well as from further afield and passing trade. The café is located at the main Auchray Farm site with ample recently upgraded parking to service the burgeoning volume of traffic coming from the Templeton Road which in turn leads directly onto the A923 and Kingsway/A90 beyond which is the arterial road link both north and south.

Despite the obvious impact this element of the business suffered during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, the café still managed to continue trading throughout, partly due to the versatility provided by the adjoining “Dog House” which already catered to the numerous dog walkers who frequented the café. Following the lifting of lockdown measures the café has been revived and indeed surpassed the volume of trade expectations and is anticipated to return to the impressive pre-Covid financial results this year.

Description
Templeton Christmas Tree Farm is a primarily horticultural enterprise extending to approximately 584 acres (236 ha) in total across nine sites to the north west of Dundee with the base of operations at Auchray Farm. Auchray includes two large semi-detached residential properties, a new seasonal workers accommodation/dormitory which is currently under construction, a lean-to office block, storage shed, renewables shed/CHP shed, Pine Cone Café and Gift Shop along with ’The Doghouse’ which is a small ancillary café area designed to cater specifically for dog walkers.

The main site at Auchray benefits from a range of large and modern steel portal framed buildings which more than adequately cater to the healthy Christmas tree, firewood and renewables enterprises and could in fact easily support continued expansion. Beyond this commercial yard and storage space the publicly accessible areas include the Pine Cone Café and Gift Shop which was fully extended and refurbished in 2019 to accommodate a larger café/retail space and ample parking area.

The buildings are surrounded by a generously proportioned yard which makes the movement of machinery and stock more efficient. The buildings to the far east of the yard, shown numbered 8 and 9 on the building block plan, accommodate the two biomass boilers, three drying floors, woodchip storage and delivery system, as well as general-purpose storage of forestry equipment, forestry and firewood production processes and the end products ready for distribution.

Building No. 7 is generally referred to as the “Christmas Tree shed” and is primarily used for processing, baling and storing both the wholesale and retail Christmas Trees. It also doubles up as an additional retail space over the festive season selling both trees and all the ancillary elements one might need or want including, stands, skirts, decorations, lights and garden figurines.

The pair of semi-detached cottages, in addition to an additional dormitory which is currently under construction, provide comfortable lodgings for seasonal workers which is a bonus when trying to compete with other local agri/forestry business in the area and attract the best quality staff.

The remaining eight growing locations are close to the villages of Muirhead, Lundie and Auchterhouse, all of which are within approximately eight miles of Auchray within the county of Angus.

In addition to that which is owned, Tayside Forestry rents in approximately 192 Acres (78 Ha) and it is anticipated the leases will be assigned where required to the purchaser for the duration of the unexpired term to ensure continuity of supply through to at least the end of the current rotation. The rented land is shown coloured blue on the plan(s).

Viewing
Strictly by appointment with the Selling Agent. Given the potential hazards of the yard, we request you take care when viewing the property, especially around the commercial/industrial buildings in addition to the café car park.

Financial Guarantee/Anti-Money Laundering Regulations
Any offer by prospective purchaser(s), regardless of where they are ordinarily resident and regardless whether on a cash or subject to loan finance basis, must be accompanied by a financial reference from a bank/funding source that is acceptable to the sellers. Prospective purchasers will also be required to produce identification sufficient to satisfy anti money laundering regulations and checks against the intended purchaser or nominee together with other documentation that may be required, from time to time, in order to support any conditional offers submitted to the seller. Bidwells LLP accepts no liability of any type arising from your delay or other lack of co-operation in this regard. Failure to provide the requisite AML documentation with offers may result in them not being considered at the closing date or being superseded by an offer which is. Settlement may also be delayed or aborted due to non-compliance with requests for information or failure to deliver adequate information within the requisite timeframes. We may hold your name on our database unless you instruct us otherwise.

Home Reports and virtual tour available on request. For further information please download the property brochure or contact the Bidwells Team [use Contact Agent Button]

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