ABSTRACT
Farming businesses in the United Kingdom are typically family concerns, not involving third parties and structured as sole traders or partnerships of only family members. Relatively few operate as companies, though these will be more evident among larger and more commercial businesses. A sole trader is where the business is in the name of a self-employed individual who is the business with its opportunities and risks for profit and loss. The business is funded by the sole trader’s resources, supplemented as necessary by borrowing. A company, also discussed further later on, is a separate legal and taxable entity, distinct from its owners who are shareholders while its directors, appointed by shareholders, will be responsible for its management. The hallmarks of a partnership are that more than one person, whether individuals a legal person such as a company, jointly carry out a commercial enterprise, with the effect that they share the costs and so the profits and losses of the business.
