Rumours of The Farm's closure not entirely accurate

  • Hello All,


    Rumours of the Farm's closure owing to a sign spotted declaring planning permission (also known as a planning notice), are not entirely true. Previously they have listed planning permission before in 2014. This notice in 2018 is just to renew that planning permission. So that when the studio is finally closed Tony / Mike can sell the property to a developer and realise some money from the asset, they already know that they will get much more money for it if there is planning permission already in place. http://thegenesisarchive.co.uk/studio-the-farm-fisher.../provides more information... German band Schiller were in there as was reported in October. Hope this clears up a few misunderstandings.


    Regards


    TGA

  • I was beginning to wonder about this. Still we should all be prepared that this will be a reality soon enough. I would have loved to have driven past the place or visited it at one point, even if from afar. Just to have been near the place where all that musical creativity was is enough to give me chills!

    • Official Post

    The initial confusion started several years ago, when the house on The Farm was sold - they didn't sell the studio. It's still in use.

  • I agree. There are lots of photos, especially from Mike, been taken at the Farm more or less recently. I can imagine they don't need the house anymore, simple as that.

  • The Farm house was sold in 2001, then again in 2014 but it didn't sell. It was put back on sale in 2016 and it appears to have been sold.


    The old equipment barn which was sold as part of the farm, now has planning permission and is being converted into a home, after it failed to take off as a wedding

    hire business.


    Recently, the studio was wound down as a business, perfectly normal for the fact its no longer trading. Then Tony / Mike in September 2014 put in a proposal to

    the local council for planning permission to convert it into a 5 bedroom single storey dwelling (home). This is perfectly normal and its often what people do

    to increase the value of an asset if they intend to offload it onto a developer for money.


    Remembering that FLF studio was a cowshed that they converted in 1980/81 and again in 1984/85.


    Either way in all the plans, proposals etc Mike / Tony intend to hold onto the equipment barn which they moved the gear into around 2001 from the old barn.


    The future is uncertain, the SSL Mixing desk and a lot of the outboard equipment (you see in racks right near the mixing desk) still carry a substantial value

    secondhand. If the studio was coming up for sale or being redeveloped then you would hear about this equipment coming up for sale. A Solid State Logic Desk G Series 4000. That used to belong to Genesis, has also been used by Phil Collins / Mike and The Mechanics would carry some news and value.


    One day it will happen, but a German band Schiller was recording in FLF studio just as recent as September, with Gary Wallis and Nick Davis etc


    So hope this isn't the end,


    Kind regards


    TGA

  • Anyone but the government would probably fall foul of GDPR regulations for dumping everyone involved’s home address online here (apart from Phil’s, obviously) :rolleyes:


    Oh well, I guess Tony & Mike won’t attract many stalkers these days.

    As a company director, my name and contact details can be found on that site too, as may well be the case for others here. It's a residents association company and the address is of the residential block, where I no longer mainly live. I doubt I'd attract any stalkers either, but it's still odd seeing my full name, date of birth, occupation and still-relevant address listed in full for all the world to see!

    Abandon all reason

  • Anyone but the government would probably fall foul of GDPR regulations for dumping everyone involved’s home address online here (apart from Phil’s, obviously) :rolleyes:


    Oh well, I guess Tony & Mike won’t attract many stalkers these days.

    Indeed, and you don't have to live in this country either! Some people choose to use company addresses, etc, but the addresses of at least 2 members of my fave band are on there, (a UK band, all UK born, but some live overseas now) as well as the actual birth date of one of the members, not the widely acknowledged one! ;)

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!

  • FLF Ltd has not been trading since 2014... but that doesn't mean the studio hasn't been used in that time.


    Its just that neither Tony / Mike can get the tax breaks from having the studio that includes on new equipment / assets etc.


    TGA

  • From this year, if anyone's interested in a little virtual tour :)


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  • Does anyone have an update on the status of The Farm? I passed by yesterday and there is work going on in the grounds. Do we have definitive word that Genesis have sold up and moved out? Wikipedia suggests so (though no source is provided). Nick Davis did the recent remixes of TB’s solo career at Abbey Road.



    Rob.

    • Official Post

    They didn’t sell the studio, just the house besides it


    In our interview with Mike Rutherford earlier this year, it was also a subject


    https://www.genesis-news.com/c…11th-April-2019-s714.html