Meat company JW Galloway blames Brexit for profits slump
Scotland’s largest meat processor, JW Galloway, has blamed Brexit preparations for a 48% drop in profits last year.
Accounts filed with Companies House show the family-owned business, which owns Scotbeef, Vivers Scotland and Scotbeef (Inverurie) Ltd, posted pre-tax profits of £4.372 million for the 53 weeks to March 1 2020.
This is down from a pre-tax profit of £8.398m for the 52-week period ending February 24 2019.
Turnover at the group, which employed an average of 1,175 staff in the year, was up 4.5% to £384.452m. Sales within the UK were up 4% to £334.993m, while export sales increased by £2.569m to £39.459m.
In his report with the accounts, managing director Robbie Galloway said: “Brexit planning within the sector undoubtedly had an impact on the financial performance in the year.
“Producers stockpiled meat in preparation for the anticipated March departure; when the extent of the delay became known and the product was released into the market, sales pricing was adversely affected.”
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