Perthshire butcher Simon Howie is celebrating a good year for his business despite a “staggering” rise in energy bills.
Sales and profits rose at the business, which has its main factory at Dunning.
New accounts for Simon Howie Butchers Limited show turnover rose to £24.1 million for the year to December 2022. That is an increase of more than £2.5m from 2021.
The company’s pre-tax profits were also up to more than £4.4m, a rise from the previous year’s figure of £4.1m.
Rise in energy bills ‘staggering’, says Simon Howie
Last year, Mr Howie revealed the business had endured a 10-fold rise in its energy bills.
In his strategic report, published alongside the accounts, Mr Howie said “geopolitical issues” were to blame for the steep increase in utilities.
He said that was “particularly irksome” and stated the UK government’s energy strategy has left the business “at the mercy of the world indices”.
Mr Howie added: “The profiteering by the energy generators and wholesalers has been staggering to see in action, with gas and electricity prices now at unprecedented levels.”
He said this had prompted the company to invest in renewable power generation. It hopes to have 1.5 megawatts of power generated on site before the end of the year.
Despite those challenges, the Perthshire businessman was pleased with the financial performance.
He said: “We are very happy with the performance of the business in the past 12 months.
“We’ve had a lot of cost pressures and we’ve been working hard on pushing out our geographical spread.”
‘We’re blessed with a strong team’
Mr Howie also praised the company’s workforce
He added: “We know how important it is to keep market share. We’re very blessed with a strong team and they have been working their socks off.”
The accounts also show the business employed an average of 114 people during last year, up two from the year before.
More than 100 staff work in manufacturing roles, with a further 10 in administrative positions.
There was also a rise in wages over the period, from £2.8m in 2021 to £3.2m.
Meanwhile, Mr Howie said the company is performing well in the current financial year.
“Sales are up quite a bit, but costs are up too,” he added.
“We’re not sure where profitability will land, but we’re over 20% up this year so far, so the picture looks good.”
Conversation