H&H group appoints new chief executive

Apr 19 2008 The Journal

THE H&H Group, Carlisle, has appointed Brian Richardson, who has spent 25 years in agribusiness management as its new chief executive.

Mr Richardson, 47, takes on his new role at the beginning of July succeeding Trevor Hebdon, who is standing down after more than nine years.

Mr Richardson joins the H&H Group from Lincolnshire based CWG, a traditional farming co-operative with 160 staff and turnover of £20m a year.

He joined this business at the end of 2004 with the brief to remodel it and deal with several long-standing issues such as a large pension scheme deficit and declining sales.

After three years, the business is now enjoying significant sales growth and has a clear focus on the future with a restructured balance sheet enabling it to look to the future with renewed confidence.

Born into a farming background, Mr Richardson began his career as a management trainee with G Morrell and Sons, Harrogate, an agribusiness covering several business areas.

After progressing to commercial manager, he took up a similar post with the farming and estate management group JSR Farming Group in Driffield in 1982. From 1998 to late 2004 Mr Richardson was chief executive of Woldmarsh Producer, an agricultural buying co-operative based in Lincolnshire.

In 1999 he was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship to investigate agricultural co-operation overseas, visiting Northern Europe and New Zealand.

His report was presented in 2002 with the information used by many co-operative organisations in the UK.

Alan Bowe, H&H Group chairman, said: “Mr Richardson was appointed because of his wide experience in a business not dissimilar to the group’s activities and we believe that he will expand on the firm base which has been created over the past 10 years.”

Mr Richardson said: “Trevor Hebdon has left the group in good shape financially and I look forward to working with the business managers to further develop it.”

He currently lives in Louth, Lincolnshire, with his wife Sandra and daughters Emma, 20, and Laura, 17, and he is looking forward to making his new home in Cumbria.

Outside work he enjoys many rural pastimes and has recently started to learn to play golf.