Liverpool agricultural and consumer products business Billington Group sees revenues fall below last year’s £600m but pushes up profits amid a ‘challenging environment’. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool agricultural and consumer products business Billington Group has increased its annual profits by more than £3m despite a challenging trading environment.
Billington Group, the trading name of Edward Billington and Son, has posted its accounts for the 12 months to September 1, 2024, on Companies House. They show total revenues of just under £590m, down from £601m in the previous year.
However, despite tough trading in both its agriculture and consumer markets, the business saw pre-tax profits rise from £10.4m in 2023 to £13.7m. Final dividends of £2.47m were recommended for shareholders.
Billington started as a family business in Liverpool in 1858 with founder Edward Billington importing tea, coffee and sugar into the UK. The business grew into a major trading venture.
It operated in a number of food and agriculture-related sectors throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century. Following the COVID pandemic the business underwent a restructuring.
Based in Cunard Building on Liverpool waterfront, Billington employs more than 1,800 people across four divisions – EPC, Billington Foods, Carrs Billington Agriculture and Criddle.
EPC makes sauces, dressings, condiments, mayonnaise and marinades for food manufacturers and retailers. Billington Foods, supplies the UK’s foodservice, retail and B2B markets with chilled and frozen sauces, soups, frozen pies and desserts.
Carrs Billington Agriculture supplies feed, fuel and farm machinery for the agricultural sector while Criddle, is an agricultural commodity trading business.
EPC saw an “excellent year” with higher sales volumes, Billington Foods saw a “significant turnaround” during the year, Carrs Billington Agriculture saw mixed fortunes partly due to “adverse market conditions” and Criddle enjoyed a second-half recovery.
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Writing in the annual report, Billington chairman Andrew King said: “The economic backdrop to the year was again difficult with high food inflation and the challenging environment for both our food and agricultural customers and for customers generally.
“However the business delivered an improved performance in 2023 2024 and delivered profit growth albeit short of the budget that was set for the business for which the management should be congratulated.”
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