From Grain To Glass Trade Awareness Course June 2024

The Association was delighted to be able to offer a North Yorkshire based trade awareness course after a 5-year gap.  The 2024 course was based on grain and ruminants and aimed to show delegates two primary uses of grain following the journey to final consumer products.

The course was fully booked soon after the initial details were circulated and it was lovely to meet 14 delegates whose experience in the industry ranged from a few months to 25 years. The fantastic feedback received, with all rating the course as excellent and something they would recommend to others, reaffirmed our aim to make these courses suitable for all.

The first day saw delegates meeting for refreshments and introductions at the Kings Head Hotel, Masham before taking the short walk to Masham Micronized Feeds for the first of the day’s visits. The group then travelled by minibus to C W Britton and Son, a mixed arable and dairy site which gave delegates an overview of a traditional Dales farm. Unfortunately, our next planned visit had to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances but the day finished on a high note with a visit to Theakston’s Brewery which included a guided tour followed by an evening meal.

On the second day the group visited Alfred Hymas Ltd, one of the largest family-owned bulk hauliers in North Yorkshire. This was followed by a visit to Waterloo House, the brand-new production facility owned by I’Anson Bros. The day was completed by a visit to G W Leggott & Son, another family run farm but this time one which utilises modern technology and robotics to breed and manage high yielding dairy cows.

The host companies made the delegates feel very welcome and were all very generous with their time and facilities. The very informative tours and presentations gave the delegates the opportunity to learn about different sectors within the industry and also offered a comparison of different establishments within the same sector.

Lead chaperone Angela Sutherby and the rest of the Executive Committee would like to thank everyone who attended the course, and especially all the companies that continue to support us by either sending delegates or allowing us the opportunity to visit their premises, which we appreciate takes up a lot of their valuable time and resources.

Annual Am/Am Golf Tournament 2024

 

At the end of a very wet, stormy and unsettled month we were very fortunate to have a dry, if somewhat cold day for this year’s golf competition with the rain managing to hold off until close of play.

We were delighted to welcome several new teams as well as those who have been regular entrants over the years and, with a total of 18 teams entered, the competition was once again a great success.  The informal, friendly nature of the event enables both seasoned golfers and the many once-a year players to have a thoroughly enjoyable day. The event is open to both member and non-member companies and we would like to thank them all for their support which is much appreciated.

Our thanks go to the hard-working ground staff for presenting the course in wonderful condition despite the challenging weather and to the catering team, led by Barbara, who provided a delicious evening meal.

As usual, we took the opportunity to fundraise for charity and Executive Committee member Mark Woodall was able to present a cheque for £1000 to Claire Crosbie from the Hull branch of the children’s charity KIDS, www.kids.org.uk/yorkshire-humber, thanks to the generous support of the raffle and other donations.  Our thanks also go to Brough Golf Club, The Double Tree by Hilton, Tesco’s, Market Weighton and Morrisons, Beverley for generously donating raffle prizes.

Claire kindly agreed to present the prizes to the winning teams and individuals who were :-

Overall winners of the tournament Cranswick Country Foods with a score of 91.  Our congratulations go to Steve Westhead, Andy Maplethorpe, Dave Wolfe and Elliot Collis.

Runners up with a score of 83 were Thomas Mawer Ltd, Rob Mackay, David Stubley, Mike Gibson and Jonni Henson. As highest placed members of the Association this team won the HCFTA trophy.

Third place with a score of 81 went to newcomers Stonemere IT, Nathan Patrick, James Knibb, Mike Craughan and Craig Patrick.

Additional prizes were given for nearest the pin and longest drive on designated holes. Congratulations to the following winners

Nearest Pin – Hole 3                           Harvey May (H Walton Ltd)

Nearest Pin – Hole 6                           Andy Maplethorpe (Cranswick C F)

Nearest Pin – Hole 9                           Carl Burnett (I’Anson Bros)

Nearest Pin – Hole 13                         Arnie Knaggs (Eric Lusby Properties)

Nearest Pin – Hole 17                         Tim Bradshaw (HIPRA)

Longest Drive – Hole 18                      Andy Cooke (James Mortimer)

 

 

HCFTA Elects 88th President

The Association is delighted to announce that the Annual General Meeting on 11th January 2024 saw Matthew Tickle, from Dugdale Nutrition, elected as the 88th President. Also elected at the meeting were Vice President, Toby Parker from Pelagia UK, and Junior Vice President, Will Millar from Cargill.

The retiring President, Harry Todhunter, commented that he had enjoyed his time in the role and thought that the current two year rotation worked well. Harry went on to express his best wishes to the new President.   

Thanks were expressed to Harry for all his hard work and the meeting was pleased to hear that he will be remaining as a member of the Executive Committee.

Annual Dinner 2023

We are delighted to report that the 2023 Annual Dinner was a huge success with almost 330 guests attending. The Executive Committee would like to thank all the host companies for their continued support of the event.

Our thanks go also to The Leeds First Direct Arena, who donated a private suite to see Killer Queen, and the DoubleTree by Hilton who donated 2 nights dinner, bed and breakfast for 2 people. The generosity of these companies and all the guests who supported the live auction, prize draw and the silent auction enabled us to raise a fantastic £6730 on the night.

From these funds, a cheque for £2500 was presented to Sally Conner from R.A.B.I. and £900 will be divided between 3 local mental health charities, Men in Sheds, Mysterious Minds and Second Thoughts.  The balance will be added to our charity pot ready to make future donations. If you know of any charity that you think deserves our support, please let us know and the Executive Committee will consider your nomination.

We were once again extremely grateful to Mark Feight from IAG for hosting the afternoon seminar. Mark was able to join us in person this year for the first time since 2019 and the increase in attendance levels was testament to how much his attendance is appreciated.  We hope that all those who attended found it interesting and productive.

A selection of photographs from the dinner are available to view, if you would like to purchase any copies contact Will Kirk at hello@nighthawkstudio.co.uk

From Farm To Fork - Trade Awareness Course June 2023

Our first Trade Awareness Course (TAC) of the year concentrated on the topic of ‘From Farm to Fork’ within the pig industry and saw visits to sites belonging to one of the country’s leading food producers, Cranswick Country Foods based in Hull, and a family run farming enterprise, Lincolnshire Pork Co based in Lincolnshire.

The host companies – Cranswick Country Foods, Lazenbys Gourmet Sausage Factory, Lincolnshire Pork Co and Uncle Henry’s Farm Shop - all made the delegates feel very welcome and were very generous with their time and facilities.

The hosts very informative tours and presentations gave the delegates the opportunity to see the whole food journey. Clearly showing the ‘farm to fork’ process from birth, through rearing to slaughter and ultimately to butchered meat and oven/table ready products, which the delegates were able to sample at lunch time. Alongside the factory tours was a tour of Lincolnshire Pork Co’s arable enterprise and their AD facilities which gave a perspective of how pig meal was produced and how waste was usefully disposed of. Both days provided a comprehensive overview which, our feedback shows, proved informative to all attendees.

As with some previous TAC’s, the industry experience of the delegates ranged from months to decades and it is encouraging to hear that we were able to provide a course that proved to be of some benefit to all, in one way or another. The whole group got on well together during the visits and the socialising was helped along with an excellent evening meal at a local all you can eat, Brazilian restaurant.

Lead chaperone and principal organiser, Mark Woodall and the rest of the Executive Committee would like to thank all attendees, and their employers, for helping to make this such a successful course. Our special thanks and appreciation go to all the host companies for their generosity, without which we would be unable to run these courses.

2023 Annual Am/Am Golf Tournament

In a week of mixed weather, we were lucky to have a fine, if somewhat cloudy, day for the 2023 Annual Golf Tournament and, with a total of 14 teams entered, the competition was once again a great success. The informal nature of the event enabled both seasoned golfers and the many once-a year players to have a thoroughly enjoyable day. The event is open to both member and non-member companies and we would like to thank them all for their support which is much appreciated.

Our thanks also go to the hard-working ground staff for presenting the course in wonderful condition and to the new catering team, led by Barbara, who provided a delicious evening meal.

As usual, we took the opportunity to fundraise for charity and Executive Committee member Mark Woodall was able to present a cheque for £1000 to Claire Crosbie from the Hull branch of the children’s charity KIDS, www.kids.org.uk/yorkshire-humber, thanks to the generous support of the raffle and other donations.  Claire then kindly agreed to present the prizes to the winning teams and individuals.

The overall winners of the tournament were the team from Eric Lusby Properties with a score of 86.  Our congratulations go to Eric Lusby, Brian Hancock, Matthew Hancock and Gerry Neilson.

The runners up with a score of 80 were the team from I’Anson Brothers, Charlie I’Anson, Ged Hall, Carl Burnett and Martin Bielby. As highest placed members of the Association this team won the HCFTA trophy.

Third place went to the team from James Mortimer Ltd, Jim Wraith, Andrew Nutt, Mark Jackson and Andrew Cooke.

Additional prizes were given for nearest the pin and longest drive on designated holes. Congratulations to the following winners

Nearest Pin – Hole 3                           Andrew Nutt (James Mortimer Ltd)

Nearest Pin – Hole 6                           Mark Woodall (Thames Valley Cambac)

Nearest Pin – Hole 9                           Carl Burnett (I’Anson Bros)

Nearest Pin – Hole 13                         Andrew Nutt (James Mortimer Ltd)

Nearest Pin – Hole 17                         Brian Hancock (Eric Lusby Properties)

Longest Drive – Hole 18                      Phil Woodall (Thames Valley Cambac)

Annual Dinner 2022

We are pleased to say that the 2022 Annual Dinner saw attendance numbers well on the way back to pre-covid levels and the Executive Committee would like to thank all host companies for making the event such a success with just under 300 guests attending.

Following on from 2021, the evening remained a more informal affair with no comedian or after dinner speaker.  Our new President, Harry Todhunter, made an excellent speech at his first dinner and duly presented a cheque for £2500 to the representative of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, Sue Woodall, who thanked the Association for its long and continued support

Our thanks go to The Leeds First Direct Arena and the DoubleTree by Hilton for kindly donating such wonderful prizes and to all the guests who generously supported the draw which raised £2175 for our charity pot. A new venture on the evening was a silent auction that raised just over £1300 which was donated to a charity helping the agricultural industry in Ukraine - World to Rebuild Rural Ukraine (WRRU).

We were once again extremely grateful to Mark Feight from IAG for hosting the afternoon seminar. Mark was due to attend in person but a family commitment meant that, at the eleventh hour, he was unable to travel. Our thanks go to the hotel who provided us with the relevant technology to hold a webinar at short notice. Although those attending would have preferred that Mark had been able to attend in person they nevertheless found it interesting and productive.

A selection of photographs from the dinner are on the website, if you would like to purchase any copies contact Will @ nighthawkshoots@gmail.com