The H&H year in focus

Despite the difficult times facing agriculture the H&H Group returned a profit on its year end figures in the summer.

With the exception of the Group’s farmstock and auction house companies, all other subsidiaries increased turnover and profits with the result of a profit for the Group of £644,000 on a turnover of just under £8 million. And compared to the same period in 2005, the Group’s underlying trading profit was ahead as the year continued.

Farmstock
During the last 12 months Harrison & Hetherington sold in excess of 700,000 head of cattle and sheep across its eight sales centres and, despite unremarkable prices during a good part of the year, throughput value exceeded £85 million.

Also, during the year, as the UK’s pre-eminent pedigree livestock auctioneers, there were a number of new breed records including a Limousin bull at 100,000gns setting an all beef breed UK, European and World record price, a Belgian Blue bull equalling the breed record at 21,000gns (already held by H&H), a Texel lamb ram at 110,000gns setting a centre record and being the second highest priced lamb ram to be sold in the UK, a breed record for a Jersey at 8,500gns, a centre record for a Holstein female at 32,000gns and the sale of an unborn Holstein embryo which made a new UK record at 26,000gns.

Following the resumption of live exports earlier in the year, Harrison & Hetherington was the first auction company to sell a Belgian Blue bull back to the Belgians! Limousin cattle sold to southern Ireland and Holsteins to both southern Ireland and Spain – again Continued from page 15 another first. In 12 months, more than 22,000 customers had either sold or bought – or both – through the company’s eight sales centres.

Among other highlights in the year, the farmstock business achieved a throughput sales value of just over £1.2 million at the Borderway May beef breeding day and in the busiest week to date in the autumn there was a throughput of £5.25 million across all eight sales centres.

A major success was the hosting of Beef Expo 2006 which attracted 5,000 visitors from home and overseas, 150 trade stands and breed societies exhibiting 300 cattle.

Borderway Finance
Over recent years the motor vehicle finance operation has continued to grow its business and in the financial year £13.4 million of new business was written against 1,804 transactions.

With an expanding dealer base, Borderway Finance is writing business for in excess of 80 dealerships in Cumbria and south west Scotland as well as into the Scottish borders and north Lancashire.

H&H Bowe
The H&H Group’s rural chartered surveying and land agency business undertakes work for an active client base of 1,300. It managed 50,000 acres of lowland estate and out of the 287,876 acres of common land, H&H Bowe is involved in almost 60 per cent of this, plus involvement with commons in Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire.

During the year, 3,500acres of farm land was sold at a total value of £14.7 million.

Borderway Insurance Brokers
The insurance brokerage operation has in excess of 4,000 clients – including 29 in Orkney and Shetland alone!. The number of live policies has grown from 4,773 a year ago to 5,678 today.

H&H King
The Group’s residential estate agency and lettings business sold in excess of 250 residential properties during the year. The average sale price a year ago was £138,464 which increased by just over 18 per cent to £164,065.

The number of properties let increased from just over 190 to 220 with let managed properties standing at 133.

Borderway Motor Auctions
The auction business saw a year on year increase in motor vehicles sold with more than 3,000 sold at a turnover value of £2.3 million.

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