BROWNS Food Group, which owns the Hall’s of Scotland brand, has reinforced its belief Brexit has created “great uncertainty” in the food industry, and added the recent General Election results has only added to this.
After warning of the impact of Brexit last year, the company saw turnover fall by more than 10 per cent to £151 million. Pre-tax profit was £6.1m, down
24 per cent on last year.
Writing in the company accounts for the year ending December 31, the directors noted they were pleased with the overall performance of the group “in what was a very challenging and uncertain external marketplace”.
The vast majority of the company’s sales are within the UK. Last year UK sales were £150m, down from £160m. In Europe sales
fell to £1.6m from £9.1m, while in the rest of the world, modest 2015 sales of £256,000 were wiped out last year.
“The impact of the Brexit decision and the General Election, and the consequent effect on the currency markets and the economy in general, has created even greater uncertainty in the UK food sector,” wrote the directors, who added that the extreme competition in the sector would continue.
This, they said, had led to an oversupply of manufactured products in certain areas of the sector.
“Notwithstanding this, the directors remain
confident their strategy is driving continuous improvement across all businesses in the group and are confident of generating further growth and improve-
ment in our [sic] financial performance,” they said.
The average number of employees at the business in 2016 was 1,244, up from 1,209.
Browns rescued the Hall’s of Scotland brand in 2013, through an acquisition from Dutch firm Vion Foods Group. This deal brought the Hall’s of Scotland food brand and the Hall’s Direct wholesale business.
The latter was offloaded in May this year to Lomond – The Wholesale Food
Co, leaving Browns to concentrate on its food business.
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