Written by Rachel Martin
One of the UK’s biggest farmer-owned buying groups Fram Farmers Group has reported record results at its Annual General Meeting on November 15, 2018.
During the financial year to June 30, 2018, Fram Farmers achieved its highest-ever annual turnover, £195 million. The figure was up £16 million on the year before.
Fram Farmers
Formed by 23 local farmers in Framlingham, Suffolk in 1960, Fram Farmers remains a not-for-profit farmer-owned cooperative and enables members to obtain best value from the supply chain.
Still based in the town, it now provides the purchasing, grain marketing and administrative function for more than 1,200 farming businesses who collectively farm over 270,000ha throughout the UK.
Headline figures
Over the year, purchasing turnover increased by 11.3% and included organic growth of 8% – something the group claims reflects the fact that members trusted the cooperative with an increasing percentage of their business.
Fram Farmers’ pre-tax operating profits increased to £201,000 (compared to an £87,000 deficit in 2016-2017).
Framtrade Ltd, the Group’s wholly-owned retail subsidiary which supplies oil and gas products to over 4,000 members of the public and small businesses, had an exceptional year, recording a pre-tax operating profit of £464,309 – an increase of more than 74% compared to 2016-17.
The combined £665,523 surplus was the highest in Fram Farmers’ 58-year history. The money will be used to allow the cooperative to attract, train and retain the best people, use the best IT systems to improve efficiency and continue to expand the range and scope of its member services.
Announcing the results, Richard Anscombe, chief executive, said: “Fram Farmers attracts successful, forward-thinking farming businesses who derive significant benefits from their membership.
“Even the largest farming businesses are unlikely to be able to replicate what we provide for a very cost-effective annual fee.
“Consequently members who are fully committed find that they are significantly better off sourcing all their farm inputs through us.
“We are continually benchmarking our performance against the market, and we look for ways to provide further benefits and add value to the service we provide.”
Growth
Growing its members’ commitment is the current key goal of the group.
“The key goal is to grow member commitment, not for growth’s sake, but because it represents the best objective measure that we are meeting members needs,” Anscombe said.
Greater and earlier commitment provides higher volumes and valuable information which allows us to work with suppliers and help them plan their production and distribution, increasing our ability to negotiate better deals.
“We will aim to increase our engagement with the most forward-thinking, most committed and largest member businesses to ensure that the services we provide are right for them, because ultimately achieving that standard will benefit all members.
“We will also increase our focus on the ‘Next Generation Group’, broadly those under 40 years of age, who are the future leaders of our members’ businesses and key to the future success of Fram Farmers.”
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