The Scottish grain trade has this week been absorbing the news that Bruce Ferguson has resigned from his post as manager in Scotland for Openfield.
As part of his role within the nationwide business he managed the farmer-owned grain storage and drying businesses at Angus Cereals Ltd in Montrose and Aberdeen Grain Ltd at Whiterashes.
These state-of-the-art facilities have capacities of 40,000 tonnes and 65,000 tonnes respectively and are an important part of the farming infrastructure in the east and north-east of the country.
Mr Ferguson has been widely recognised as the architect of both projects, with the latest development being the installation of a biomass plant at Whiterashes.
He is also chairman of the Scottish cereals committee of Agricultural Industries Confederation, the trade representative body.
Mr Ferguson is understood to be on “gardening leave” and vacated his office at Aberdeen Grain last Friday.
He has made no statement, but trade sources have linked him with a senior position with national trading company Frontier.
As part of the ABF Cargill business, Frontier is a major player in the market and a direct competitor to Openfield.
There has been some speculation, however, that Mr Ferguson’s links with Aberdeen Grain and Angus Cereals might not be permanently broken and there might be scope for him to be involved with the two farmer-owned businesses in the future.
Both are run by elected boards on behalf of their farmer members, with the members owning the stores and Openfield appointed as marketing agents.
Any change is pure conjecture at this stage, although as recently as February at the SAOS conference Mr Ferguson suggested that co-ops had to be forward looking and should be aiming to be “best in class”.
Alex Sanger, Montrose farmer and chairman of Angus Cereals, said in a letter to members: “I would like to take this opportunity to reassure you that the board is assessing our future position to ensure Angus Cereals continues to deliver the requirements of our members.
“Openfield are our marketing agents and will be continuing to carry out their duties as normal.”
An Openfield statement released on Tuesday night said: “During the last month a significant milestone has been achieved with member commitment to Aberdeen Grain and Angus Cereals now exceeding 100,000 tonnes.
“Infrastructure of this capability is essential in improving the efficiency within our supply chains.
“Recent years have witnessed somewhat of a transformation, with a 300% increase in the storage capabilities at Aberdeen Grain and the establishment of the Angus Cereals facility on the quayside at Montrose.
“Both multi-million- pound investments required a significant team effort involving not just the farmer boards of both societies but the local site staff and the wider Openfield personnel,” he said.
Openfield chief executive James Dallas said: “Whilst it is unfortunate that Bruce Ferguson has decided to move to pastures new, it is important to note that it has always been about this wider team of people.” This was a view which, he added, was shared by Mr Sanger and Aberdeen Grain chairman Ian Cruikshanks.