Ringlink sees drop in profits

Scotland’s largest machinery ring has blamed ongoing challenges in the industry for a drop in profits.

The latest accounts for Ringlink for the year ended July 31, reveal an 88% drop in pre-tax profits to £4,881, from £40,660 previously.

Turnover at the organisation, which has just over 2,800 members, was also down by £59,164 to £1.160 million.

Ringlink Services, which focuses on providing labour and training, reported a £307,705 increase in turnover to £4.865m.

Pre-tax profits were down to £120,394, from £158,873 previously.

Speaking at the ring’s annual meeting in Edzell this week, chairman Andrew Moir, who farms at Mains of Thornton, near Laurencekirk, said: “As a member-driven organisation our fortunes are interlinked and with commodity prices at a low ebb this has an immediate impact on trading results.”

He said the outfit would be reviewing its annual membership fee of £100, which has remained un-changed for the past 22 years, to enable the ring to “continue to give a very high level of service”.

Managing director Graham Bruce said both the ring and its service company had experienced increased demand for labour during the year.

The average number of workers deployed daily was 334 and last month this increased to more than 500.

“The growth in demand for labour is very much a reflection of the industry’s increasing requirement for temporary labour to meet the various peaks and troughs and keep costs down,” added Mr Bruce.