Out and ABOUT NWF
By Andrew Mounsey A Visit to
Agriculture Longtown, Cumbria
Out & About is sponsored by B2B Nutrition, suppliers of
www.b2bnutrition.co.uk
NWF’s Longtown facility is one of two mills operated by the company in close proximity to Carlisle. Longtown is north-east of the city and just four miles from the Scottish border; the other mill is at Aspatria, about 25 miles further west. NWF had long since been present in the region. Of the 54 strong
national sales team, about a third cover the area from the Lake District up into Ayrshire, but until relatively recently feed had been produced at the company’s flagship mill at Wardle, trunked up the M6 and distributed from a series of blends sheds and through collaborative agreements with other suppliers. Looking to reduce haulage costs and be able to offer fresher product with shorter lead times, the company set about identifying a site for a new mill in the North West. As NWF managing director Andrew Downie explained to me, “After consulting and using all sorts of analysis, the consensus was that Carlisle was at the centre of our sphere of influence in the region. We found a piece of land for sale which was about a mile down the road from the Jim Peet mill at Longtown. It was obvious that, if we were going to consider building a feed mill right next to an existing compounder, the first thing to do was to speak with
them to see if they were potentially interested in selling.” Conversations ensued with the Peet family, who were open-minded, recognising that the time might be right to sell, but keen to ensure the existing workforce could be retained and the Jim Peet brand kept alive. Since this was also very much in line with NWF’s intentions, based on their previous experience with the SC Feeds brand following the acquisition of that mill in Staffordshire, a sale was readily able to be agreed. This left NWF owning two feed production sites in Cumbria, not the
one which had been the original intention, but a quick reassessment led to the conclusion that both should be retained. The Aspatria mill is essentially a blends facility with a single press line. It’s in the heart of the NWF’s northern territory. Although the bulk of its production is for beef and sheep customers, nevertheless it is surrounded by some large dairy farms. There is a significant tonnage of self-collection by farmers from the site, approximately 12,000 tonnes each year. All-in-all, it just made sense to keep it open, and invest in it to bring it up to date. But Longtown was the principal focus. Here, high-voltage power
lines have been installed, new raw material silos erected, a new press line has been added alongside the original one (with space left for another line when the situation demands). Key pieces of equipment have been replaced in order to increase the capacity and efficiency – for example, there is a new mixer and a new grinder. There are also new offices and the whole site has been reorganised, including moving the weighbridge, to facilitate a one-way flow of traffic. At the time of my visit, only the new car park remained to be finished before the first phase of improvement would be complete. In short, all the investment has been made to allow some of the volume previously manufactured at Wardle and transported up the M6, to now be produced locally within the region. “It is genuinely more cost-effective to make something in the
area than to make it in Cheshire and haul it up. Our Wardle mill is very efficient but you’re always subject to haulage prices and lead times. And customers like to see something made locally,” says Andrew. This has not only improved the ability of the company to turn around orders much more quickly, it has also, by demonstrating NWF’s willingness to invest in the area, given the salesforce a huge confidence boost. “It shows we are here to stay and proud of what we do.” And what they do is summed up as follows. “We seek to make
a quality product, deliver it, with excellent service and always be competitively priced, supporting the technical input from our sales team and the advice we give to farmers.” Get these elements right, Andrew believes, and the company is well-placed to grow their business in the North, and benefit customers at the same time. A decade ago, he says, it was more about selling on price, but now the emphasis has changed to getting the very best performance out of the herd, as that is how the
Left (l to r): Alan Benson, Andrew Downie and William Gate PAGE 22 MARCH/APRIL 2019 FEED COMPOUNDER
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