North-east farmers’ co-operative ANM Group has launched a campaign to highlight the benefits of collaborative working in the farming sector.
The co-op, which runs auction marts at Thainstone near Inverurie and at Quoybrae in Caithness, said its Our ANM campaign would run over the next week six weeks in the lead up to the UK-wide Co-operative Fortnight.
ANM Group‘s chief executive, Grant Rogerson, said the co-operative had increased its focus on a range of member-only benefits in the past 12 months. These include special livestock commission rates for members, which start from as low as 3%.
He said the co-op also experienced a 5% increase in members’ funds invested in the business in the past year – the latest accounts show member share capital increased by £357,000 to £7.2m in the year to December 31, 2020.
“As we approach our 150th year, we have more members investing in our co-operative, and in return we reward this loyalty with exclusive shareholder benefits,” said Mr Rogerson.
“We are proud to have delivered £206,000 in commission savings for our members in 2020 as a direct result of our industry-leading rates, and a total value of £471,000 in members benefits delivered to shareholders in 2020.”
He encouraged farmers to consider membership of a farmers’ co-operative, such as ANM, and said: “Investing in a traditional co-operative model pays dividends not only to us as a business but to our shareholders, and the more who join, the more we can give back to our members and share in our success.
“It is this shared success of Our ANM that we look forward to celebrating in the weeks leading up to Co-op Fortnight next month.”
This year’s Co-operative Fortnight, which is run by Co-operatives UK and takes place from June 21 to July 4 – carries the theme #JoinACoop. It is designed to spread the word about the benefits of co-operative membership and encourage people across the UK to join one.