Dorset County Show Breakfast Talk

Join Cornish Mutual and other local rural professionals for a breakfast special on the opening day of the Dorset County Show.

Enjoy an informal discussion and Q&A session on building a resilient farm business and futureproofing your assets while enjoying a breakfast bap and tea or coffee.

With a focus on farm succession and inheritance tax essentials, hear from farming insurance experts, solicitors, accountants and auctioneers, with additional advice from rural crime specialists, before having the chance to ask what you most need to know.

Chaired by Nick Bunting, Cornish Mutual Field Insurance Advisor, speakers include:

·       Dan Knight, Evolution ABS

·       Will Wallis, Symonds & Sampson

·       Sarah Stone and Steve Farnham, Porter Dodson

·       Dorset Rural Crime Team

This breakfast special is open to Cornish Mutual Members, the represented company’s clients and the wider farming community.

RSVP to secure your place and free breakfast

Meet the speakers

·       Dan Knight, Evolution ABS

Dan Knight is a qualified Chartered Accountant, Chartered Tax Adviser and Accredited Mediator, specialising in succession planning and business restructuring.

Growing up on a dairy farm and with several years’ practical farming experience, Dan has a deep appreciation of agricultural life. He understands the important decisions are made around the kitchen table and sound judgement matters more than spreadsheets.

Dan believes good planning is not just about getting the numbers right, but moving people from uncertainty to action, with a shared sense of purpose.

·       Will Wallis, Symonds & Sampson

Will Wallis is a Harper Adams graduate in Rural Enterprise and Land Management. He joined Symonds & Sampson in 2007 and is both a partner based in the Poundbury office and an auctioneer at Frome Livestock Market.

As a Fellow of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers, Will’s work involves many types of valuation, including probate, secured lending, asset restructuring and annual stocktaking. His wider professional services span farm payments, environmental schemes, utilities and compensation claims, rural planning and general land/estate management.

·       Steve Farnham, Porter Dodson

Steve Farnham has been with Porter Dodson for more than 30 years, completing his training with the firm and becoming a partner in 2015.

He works in commercial property and rural business, land and agriculture, as well as renewable energy, with extensive experience in commercial property services, supporting businesses ranging from sole traders and partnerships to small owner-managed companies.

Steve aims to fully understand his clients’ businesses, objectives and future goals and to provide practical advice to solve legal difficulties.

·       Sarah Stone, Porter Dodson

Sarah joined Porter Dodson in 2009, completed her training three years later and became a partner in February 2020.

Working in the private client team, she deals with all aspects of making and updating wills, preparing power of attorney documents and estate administration, as well as advising on tax planning and trust administration.

Sarah is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and is ranked in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2025, a global listing of professional advisers to private wealth. 

·       Dorset Police Rural Crime Team

The Dorset Police Rural Crime Team was established in 2016 to co-ordinate the police response to rural and wildlife crime.

The team has nominated officers for each of Dorset’s five rural sections - Bridport, Dorchester and Sherborne, Purbeck, East Dorset and North Dorset – who work with the rural communities to ensure they are protected.

The team aims to make rural Dorset less attractive to offenders by running regular targeted operations, bringing those responsible to justice through criminal behaviour orders and other restrictive legislation.