JW Galloway investment pays off despite Brexit challenges

10-Dec-2019 - Last updated on 10-Dec-2019 at 13:34 GMT

Principal issues affecting the firm going forward also included the ramifications of Brexit, livestock availability and prices, turbulent sales, animal health and foreign currency exposure

Scottish beef producer JW Galloway has reaped the rewards from new plant and equipment investment despite Brexit-induced challenges over the past year, as the firm demonstrated growth in its recent results.

For the period ending 24 February 2019, the firm announced operating profit growth of £190,000 to £8.4m, up from £8.2m the previous year.

Sales volume growth

Total turnover was £367.8m, a rise of 5.2% from 2018, driven by UK sales volume growth. However, director JR Galloway confirmed that the company had continued to invest throughout the period to mitigate against ongoing challenges.

“Uncertainty created by Brext terms and timetable negotiations has made export markets very challenging in the past year,” he said. “The group has continued to invest in plant and equipment in order to maximise production efficiency, spending £4.7m, but was still able to add £5.5m to cash and cash-equivalent balance.”

Collaboration

The firm added that environmental sustainability remained a key objective for the business going forward, “which it endeavours to improve through close collaboration with farming suppliers and customers”.

Principal issues affecting the firm going forward also included the ramifications of Brexit, livestock availability and prices, turbulent sales, animal health and foreign currency exposure.

To tackle these issues, the firm stressed that it would look to develop new supplier opportunities and improve efficiencies where possible.