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

Annual Golf Tournament 2022

The 2022 Annual Golf Tournament took place on a glorious sunny day that provided perfect playing conditions for the day’s proceedings. Although team numbers were not back to pre-covid levels, the competition was once again a great success and was thoroughly enjoyed by those who played. We were delighted to welcome the first lady competitor for a number of years and hope that her success will encourage more ladies to join us next time.

The course was in wonderful condition and our thanks go to the club ground staff for all their hard work.  Our thanks also to Wes and his catering team for providing another delicious meal.

As our President Harry Todhunter was unable to stay for the prize giving, Executive Committee member Mark Woodall thanked everyone for supporting the tournament. Mark also thanked everyone involved with the golf club for ensuring that the event ran well. 

Before presenting her with a cheque for £1000, Mark introduced Claire Crosby from the charity KIDS. Claire gave a wonderful short talk on the amazing support that KIDS give to disabled children and young adults and their parents and emphasised how grateful they were for our donation.

The overall winners of the tournament were the team from E D & F Man with a score of 82.  Our congratulations go to Anita Beattie, Darren Beattie, Dave Beecroft and Mick Harrison. As highest placed members of the Association the team also won the HCFTA trophy.

The runners up were the team from Wold View Foods with a score of 81, Rob Page, Graham Thompson, Matt Wilkinson and Rich Riley.

Third place went to the team from James Mortimer Ltd, Jim Wraith, Andrew Nutt, Adrian Glew and Rich Bloom.

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

Nearest Pin – Hole 3                          David Campbell (Cargill PLC)

Nearest Pin – Hole 6                           Matt Wilkinson (Wold View Foods)

Nearest Pin – Hole 9                           Martin Bielby (I’Anson Bros)

Nearest Pin – Hole 13                         Rob Mackay (Thomas Mawer Ltd)

Nearest Pin – Hole 17                         Richard Slack (E D & F Man)

Longest Drive – Hole 10                     Andy Gilbey (Cranswick PLC)

 

Hull & Humber Trade Awareness Course, May 2022

This year brought a welcome return to our very popular Trade Awareness Courses (TACs).  Our first TAC since 2019 took place in May around Hull and the Humber area and was very well received.

All the host companies made us feel most welcome and provided very informative tours which were thoroughly enjoyed by all. The visits covered vastly differing aspects of our industry from goat kids and piglets to a large site dealing with the recycling of waste cooking oil and food. We were also fortunate to be able to see the storage and transport of various raw materials with some of the delegates taking the opportunity to witness at close quarters the loading of a grain ship in the Humber.

The delegates ranged from new starters in their first months of employment to those with several years of experience. Lead chaperone, Angela Sutherby commented how lovely it was to see these courses up and running once again. It was especially pleasing to see so many young people who were new to the industry getting on so well with each other and making acquaintances which should prove beneficial as their careers progress.

Angela and the rest of the Executive Committee would like to thank everyone who attended the course and helped to make it such a success. Special thanks go to all the companies that supported the course by either sending delegates or allowing us to visit their premises, we really appreciate the amount of valuable time and effort that these visits take.