Terms & Conditions of Membership

Southern Farmers Ltd. (S.F. LTD.) is a not-for-profit organisation created for the specific purpose of enabling Members to benefit from group buying.

Members receive a monthly VAT account covering a very wide range of purchases for which only one payment has to be made.

The Company passes on to Members the full benefits of the co-operative trading policies, no discounts being retained, but to cover administration costs, charges are made as shown.

APPLICATIONS ARE INVITED FROM THOSE COMMERCIALLY ENGAGED IN AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY, HORTICULTURE AND RELATED RURAL INDUSTRIES SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS:-

APPLICATION AND LIMIT OF GUARANTEE FORM

Application is by completion of a standard form, submitted to the Registered Office at Windmill Farm,
for approval by the Board of Directors.

MEMBERSHIP CHARGES

1. Annual fee of £125 per year, currently payable in two instalments – October and April of each year.

2. Administration charges on Supplier invoices are as follows:-

Fertiliser, Feed, Seed and Agrochemicals 0.35%
Gas Oil, Road Derv 0.48%
Baling, Silage & Hop Products, Kero, Coal, *Gases, Lubricants 0.85%
(*some products purchased through another buying group may also carry their admin charge)
Veterinary, Horticultural, Packaging and Fencing Products 1.35%
Bulk Electricity/Solar 2.50%
All other items 2.10%
Invoice administration charges are subject to a maximum of £25 and a minimum of 95p per invoice.

3. Current Membership charges are advised at the time of application, but may be varied from time to time subject to appropriate notice from the Board of Directors

CONFIDENTIALITY

1. The Member shall ensure that all information regarding the Company and all prices and discounts offered or obtained in trading through the Company are treated as strictly confidential by all personnel involved in the Member’s business (including employees, agents and advisors) and are not disclosed to any person other than another of the Members.

2. The Staff may in their absolute discretion refuse to give a price quote to a Member. Refusal will normally only take place where the Staff of S.F. LTD. have reasonable grounds for believing that a Member is using the information to obtain competitive quotations elsewhere, but Staff will be under no obligation to give reasons for refusal. Certain sensitive products are subject to non-quotation or maximum price quotation at the discretion of the Board of S.F. LTD.

DATA PROTECTION PRIVACY NOTICE

1. Any additional information required under the privacy notice that is not included in this statement can be requested from the Southern Farmers Company Secretary, Brigitte Fifield.

2. Personal information requested on the Southern Farmers membership application form is obtained from the applicant to solely facilitate the running of account facilities with the buying group. Credit references are sought and logged against the application from referees named by the applicant.

3. Application forms and references are shared with the board of directors to support the membership application. Delivery addresses, contact details and business opening hours are shared with our group suppliers to enable deliveries to be completed. No sensitive data is processed or held by Southern Farmers about our members and all data stored about any member can be inspected by that member if so requested. Order and account details are stored by the company for the statutory seven years required for accountancy purposes and are then confidentially destroyed.

4. Banking details are kept on a secure software program. Members can at any time request details of data stored and request that it is destroyed. Southern Farmers will delete it from their systems and filing in a timely manner as long as it is legally able to do so. Any personal data breaches will be reported immediately to ICO and the member who’s data has been breached.

5. Data is not shared directly with any parties in third countries or international organisations other than when UK based suppliers to Southern Farmers import goods to be invoiced through the group or when they also have internationally based partners, Southern Farmers believes this to have no impact on our members data security as details are shared only with the office or depot receiving and dispatching the order.

6. Southern Farmers does not track members online or by any smart device or by combining data sets. Southern Farmers does not profile members but does manage the membership database by grouping into relevant categories of farming, i.e. sheep, dairy, arable, fruit etc.

7. Southern Farmers strives to provide information in concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible format using clear and plain language.

8. Southern Farmers regularly reviews its privacy policy and will inform members of any changes before putting any new data processing systems in place.

PAYMENT TERMS

1. Members agree to adhere rigidly to the rule that payments for all goods invoiced must be made within terms. Late payment, including payments declined by the Member’s bank, may result in additional administration charges or expulsion from the Group at the discretion of the Board of Directors.

2. Accounts are rendered monthly about the 8th/9th of the month, for goods purchased during the preceding month. Payments are collected by Direct Debit no earlier than the 22nd of the month in which the account is rendered. Account queries should be advised to the office no later than the date shown on the direct debit statement so that the amount to be collected can be amended if necessary.

Note: Direct Debit payment is mandatory for all new Members. Where historically a Member has chosen to pay their account by cheque, payment must be in the office no later than 20th of the month in which the account is rendered. Failure to adhere to this rule may result in a requirement for mandatory direct debit payment at the discretion of the Board of Directors.

3. If a Member is a limited liability Company, S.F. LTD. reserves the right to seek personal guarantees from the Directors of that Company.

4. S.F. LTD. as a Company cannot offer credit to any Member, but a credit facility may be arranged through the office where appropriate. The Company reserves the right to decline invoices for deferred payment at the discretion of the Board of Directors. Any requirement for deferred payment should be advised to the Company Secretary before finalising an agreement with a Supplier.

FIAS COMPLIANCE – PURCHASE OF FERTILISERS (added June 2008)

1. Third Party Storage
It is the receiving members responsibility to ensure that all fertiliser delivered to their premises is handled and stored in accordance with the FIAS standard regardless of to whom the fertiliser belongs.

2. Haulage
It is the members responsibility to ensure that either they, or anyone collecting fertiliser on their behalf, fully comply with the FIAS standard in the regard of transport.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY OF THE COMPANY

The functions of S.F. LTD. on behalf of its Members are limited to the following:-

1. Obtaining through negotiation with nominated Suppliers a price advantage available to Members entering into purchasing contracts with those Suppliers,

2. Providing an administrative service by grouping sums due from a Member to Suppliers under one monthly invoice and accounting to Suppliers on behalf of the Member accordingly.

Context of Procurement by Staff:-

The Staff of S.F. LTD. is not qualified to give technical advice regarding requirements.

3. S.F. LTD. does not hold itself out to be or operate as an agent or representative of any Supplier.

4. In consequence the Company cannot be held responsible should a Supplier fail to honour a contract. Any dispute regarding product quality or suitability, late delivery or non-delivery, or any other failing on the part of the Supplier, is subject to the terms and conditions of the individual Supplier and the contract between the Member and the Supplier.

5. Where appropriate, confirmation of order details are issued to Members to ensure that errors are not as a result of actions by the Staff of S.F. LTD. and, in some circumstances, a Member may be required to provide a written confirmation of order.

6. In the event of any goods or services purchased by a Member through S.F. LTD. proving to be defective or of unsatisfactory quality or in any way leading to loss or injury, the Member undertakes as a condition of Membership to bring any claim whether through legal proceedings or otherwise against the relevant supplier and/or manufacturer and not against S.F. LTD.
S.F. LTD. shall make every effort to prevent error and shall do their utmost to bring any dispute to a satisfactory conclusion.

7. S.F. LTD. does not undertake to insure goods, plant or machinery purchased or hired through S.F. LTD. and any liability for insurance is the subject of the contract between the Member and the Supplier.

INDEMNITY

The Member shall indemnify the Company against all damages, costs, expenses and other payments reasonably incurred by it in connection with claims by third parties arising from transactions in goods acquired for the Member.

April 2018

Member Data Processing

Southern Farmers Ltd keeps member data on its member database and accounts software Datafile. No sensitive data of any kind is processed by Southern Farmers Ltd and only data relevant to placing and processing orders on behalf of our members is shared with suppliers. All information relating to orders and accounts are stored for the mandatory seven years upon which time it is confidentially destroyed. Banking details are kept on a secure software program with limited staff access relevant for claiming direct debit payment. Members can at any time request details of data stored and request that it is destroyed. Southern Farmers will delete it from their systems and filing in a timely manner as long as it is legally able to do so. Any personal data breaches will be reported immediately to ICO and the member who’s data has been breached.