• Swindon & Wiltshire Professional services
• Monday July 7 2025

Swindon law firm defends egg producer at Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of one of the UK’s leading producers of free range eggs over its agricultural exemption from business rates, with the help of Swindon-based law firm Thrings.

In 2021, Kent-based Fridays challenged the 2017 non-domestic rating list in respect of the entry of three buildings used in connection with storage and packaging of eggs for distribution.

Agricultural exemption of the buildings was worth £200,000 to Fridays.

The Valuation Officer’s original assessment that the Egg Packing Centre, Egg Packaging Store and the Egg Warehouse should all be rated was challenged by the business, represented by Thrings’ Senior Associate, Richie Rees.

Fridays contended that the buildings were integral to their agricultural operation – which produces more than three million eggs weekly to national supermarkets – and should remain exempt.

However, the Valuation Officer at the Valuation Tribunal dismissed this challenge in September 2022. Fridays appealed the Valuation Officer’s decision to the Upper Tribunal, which was successful in 2024.

But having disagreed with the Upper Tribunal’s decision, the Valuation Officer escalated the case to the Court of Appeal, where three Lord Justices ruled in favour of Fridays, finding that: “it is not necessary for the operations carried out in the three buildings to be agricultural operations, provided that they are “connected with” agricultural operations on agricultural land”.

The judgment confirms that the three buildings in question, which were used for storing and packing eggs, are exempt from business rates.

Following the judgement, Thrings said the judgment has potentially significant implications for food producers across the UK, emphasising a need for regular reviewing of operations and business models to ensure they comply with the requirements for exemption.

Andrew Friday, director of Fridays Ltd, said: “We are delighted with this outcome and the long-overdue clarity it provides both us and agricultural producers across the country.

“We are grateful to the court for its careful consideration and final decision, which recognises the reality of modernised farming practices and the essential role that our facilities play within an operation of our scale.

“I would like to thank Richie Rees and the entire team at Thrings for their advice and unwavering support throughout this long process – along with our barrister, Cain Ormondroyd – whose guidance has been instrumental in achieving this important result.

“We are also very grateful to the NFU for their continued support throughout, which ensured we could argue our case at each stage and secure this outcome.”

Richie Rees (pictured), senior associate in Thrings’ agricultural litigation team, added: “We’re pleased to see the Court of Appeal uphold the original decision and grant them their much-deserved exemptions and want to congratulate them on their success.

“With so many agricultural businesses having waited for this outcome, including many with pending applications of their own, we hope this gives them the certainty they need in understanding the standards they have to meet to qualify.”