Grampian Country Food Group News
2 March 2007
Profitable partnerships with the UK’s farming community lie at the heart of Grampian Country Food Group’s future strategy, according to Group Managing Director Eddie Power.
Speaking exactly 12 months after he took up the reins at the UK livestock sector’s largest customer, Mr Power said the year-long restructuring of the business underlined the pivotal role farmers had to play.
“We spent over £617 million with British farmers last year and that’s a very powerful indication of how important they are to our business,” he said. “It’s certainly been a challenging time for the food production industry in recent months, but we’re extremely pleased that the restructuring of the business has proved successful.”
“Last year was a very difficult year for the Group. The centralisation process to Leeds put in place in 2003 simply did not work. It took the focus off the basics of our business and made it commercially cumbersome.
“We have now devolved responsibility and accountability back to our business units and moved from a cost centre structure to a profit centre structure. During that time, we have also recruited some excellent people to strengthen the management team and regrettably, had to close six factories to significantly reduce our cost base.
“This has been an expensive and painful process but I am delighted that we have achieved such significant results in such a short time.
“It’s no secret that the centralised structure impacted significantly on Grampian’s financial performance for a period of time, but we’ve now been trading profitably for several months, are generating positive cash-flows and are winning business back from competitors.”
And according to Power this can only be good news for farmers: “A successful, profitable and strong Grampian Country Food Group is a major asset for our suppliers. We have enjoyed tremendous and loyal support from our supply base during this difficult period and we could not have achieved this major turnaround without them.
“When you consider that, last year, we spent £108 million with UK pig farmers, £175 million with chicken farmers, £264 million on UK beef and lamb and over £70 million on cereals, you begin to see how important these relationships are on both sides.
“Grampian has a very strong track record of dealings with our farming suppliers which are based on trust and confidence. We deal with all of our suppliers in an open and transparent way and they can be confident of getting good prices for quality livestock and of being paid promptly.
“As I travel throughout the country meeting with supplier groups I am greatly encouraged by the loyalty they feel towards Grampian.
“The response from farmers has been superb. I am sure they appreciate what we’ve been working towards for the past year and we certainly appreciate the commitment they have show to us during what was often a difficult period.
“We listen carefully to what they tell us about our dealings with them, which is why we pay more promptly for our livestock than many of our competitors. This is a practice we intend to continue into the future.
”We have certainly taken on board the observations they have made about how we can further improve our dealings with the agricultural industry and I’m pleased to say that we’ve listened and responded. The feedback from farmers to our new strategy has been excellent and the long-term future is looking very positive.”