In his opening words at the Wildlife Estates Scotland Assembly last week, Brian Richardson, UK Head of Agriculture, Virgin Money, took a global view of the future to embrace environmental, economic and social sustainability.

Held at the 6,500 acre Hopetoun Estate near Edinburgh on Wednesday 2 April, the 2025 Wildlife Estates Scotland Annual Assembly attracted a packed audience to a day of networking, sharing experience and listening to a range of expert speakers.  

Managing wildlife on similar estates in Scotland was of course the focus of the Assembly, but in his remarks as headline sponsor, Virgin Money's Head of Agriculture put this key aspect of environmental management into the context of the wider drive to raise the standard of best practice right across the spectrum of land management and farming.

"It is great to see the focus being given to promoting best practice in wildlife and habitat, encompassing all the various areas that covers and bringing them together in a practical and meaningful way that moves land management and agriculture forward.

"That commitment to best practice is essential so improvement can be seen and standards raised that align with wider goals on climate and biodiversity. But conservation has to be integrated with other activities such as farming, forestry and tourism, which are very often generating the income to support the wider work on the estate.

"The farming part of land management has been downplayed in recent years, but we should remember the importance of producing healthy food at what is incredible value for money for the UK consumer. Estates need positive legislative and financial support for long term sustainability, and we must not forget the social and economic aspects of what is being done to provide vital employment in rural communities and bring communities closer together with the focus on communication and wellbeing."

As one of the major lenders in rural and agricultural business across the UK, Virgin Money is deeply committed to the success of this sector, said Brian Richardson, and the bank is supporting an enormous range of rural enterprises.

"Wildlife Estates Scotland has a very progressive set of aims, and within that there is plenty of room for individual members to tailor their ambitions to cover their own particular circumstances. This flexibility is important because, while it's important to set ambitions, it's also essential that each business can decide where their own focus and priorities should be.

"More broadly, every aspect of wildlife, environmental and economic sustainability has to be set in the context of climate challenge and our goals to reduce carbon emissions. Thankfully, the debate has matured around biodiversity and an understanding that progress made across land management and farming will support a movement to a low carbon economy.

"Using that best practice sharing and knowledge base to drive education and evidenced improvement brings us back to today's Assembly and the excellent work of Wildlife Estates Scotland. It is a vital tool in moving land management forward in a progressive way and leading to that improvement in biodiversity.

"Like many organisations, at Virgin Money we have our own ambitious targets so we can play our part in supporting the wider economy to meet its climate goals. Finance, in many projects, will play a part and it is always easier to support projects when they can demonstrate a direction of travel and demonstrate public good. WES is certainly playing its part in delivering evidence-based work to support wider stakeholders' aims and goals.

"In October, Virgin Money became part of the UK's largest mutual, the Nationwide Building Society. We also became part of their mission to make banking fairer, more rewarding and for the good of society. That last part particularly will drive our future growth and fits perfectly with our involvement with the aims and achievements of Wildlife Estates Scotland."