New leadership team announced at Harrison & Hetherington

A series of senior appointments will bring sales and operations closer together across the business as H&H continues its strategic evolution towards operating as a more integrated organisation.

H&H has announced three key appointments as part of the restructure. Robin Anderson has been promoted to the newly-created role of chief commercial officer, Grant Anderson becomes head of livestock sales, while Laura Millar takes up the role of director and head of operations (Farmstock).

The changes are aimed at strengthening collaboration across H&H’s livestock, property and insurance divisions while improving customer service and commercial performance throughout the business.

Mr Rankin described the changes as one of the most significant evolutions in the modern history of H&H.

“This has genuinely been in planning for about three years,” he said.

“It’s all about trying to focus the business slightly differently and trying to create something that will last for another couple of generations.

“What we’ve created over the years are some really strong individual pillars in the business, but that’s what they are – individual pillars rather than a collective.

“They’ve all got strengths, but they haven’t necessarily been sharing those strengths across the wider business in the way they could.”

Mr Rankin said H&H was strategically moving towards operating as a single business under a stronger master H&H brand.

“These are hugely important appointments for H&H as we strategically move towards operating as a single organisation, bringing together Harrison & Hetherington, H&H Land & Estates and H&H Insurance,” he said.

“We want customers to come to H&H for all these things. It’s about creating one master brand.”

The restructure will see H&H move to operating around a series of specialist ‘sales streams’ focused on the services customers actually access through the business.

“When people come to H&H, they come for particular services and propositions. That’s what we want to focus on.

“But by bringing those things together, rather than having them stand alone, we can do so much more for customers.”

Initially, the company expects to operate around eight sales streams, with Mr Rankin describing the move as ‘the start of the journey’.

“The idea is to create this nice stable structure and then go from there,” he said.

“Hopefully over time we’ll create more sales streams as opportunities develop.

A major part of the new model will involve separating operational responsibility from sales leadership, with a newly-established operations division working alongside commercial teams across the business.

“It’s not just about efficiency,” Mr Rankin stressed.

“The sales teams should be driving opportunities and focusing on customers while the operations side supports them and challenges them where needed.

“You want those two functions constantly working together and improving each other.”

The operational side of the business will be led by chief operating officer Mark Johnson, who has spent the past year gradually building the company’s operations function.

Robin Anderson’s appointment as chief commercial officer will place him at the centre of the business’s customer-facing activity, coordinating sales across H&H and overseeing the heads of sales across the various income streams.

Promoted from the role of managing director of Harrison & Hetherington, Mr Anderson has spent more than four decades in the agricultural sector and is widely respected across the industry.

Mr Rankin described him as a key figure in driving positive change within H&H since joining the business around 18 months ago.

“Robin has built an unrivalled reputation for his leadership, commercial expertise and deep understanding of the agricultural sector,” he said.

“He’s been absolutely fantastic and has completely changed the business in many ways.

“In his new role, Robin will coordinate and lead sales activity across the entire business, providing clear direction across all customer-facing areas."

Mr Anderson said the new structure would make it easier for customers to access the full breadth of expertise across the business.

“The timing of this is strategic,” he said.

“Bringing our sales activities closer together will make it easier for customers to work with us and access the breadth of expertise we have across our businesses.

“We’ve developed strong teams throughout the business and there is a real opportunity to build on that by sharing knowledge, working more collaboratively and continuing to enhance the service we provide.”

Mr Rankin also paid tribute to newly-appointed head of livestock sales Grant Anderson, who joined Harrison & Hetherington straight from school and has spent almost two decades within the business.

“He’s one of the industry’s most respected auctioneers,” said Mr Rankin.

“His experience and knowledge of the business and livestock trading sector ideally place him to lead our livestock sales operation.

“He’s incredibly loyal, hugely respected and this promotion is probably overdue to be honest.”

Mr Anderson will now provide strategic leadership across H&H Farmstock’s livestock sales operations, helping shape future sales activity across both physical marts and online platforms.

“Our dairy sector sales will continue to be led by Glyn Lucas whilst the machinery sales division remains under the supervision of David Holliday,” added Mr Rankin.

Speaking about his new role, Mr Anderson said the business remained fully committed to the live auction system while also recognising the opportunities presented by digital sales platforms.

“This is an exciting new stage in my career,” he said.

“As we continue building for the future, I’m looking forward to working closely with the sales team across all of our livestock trading centres.

“The live auction ring remains at the heart of everything we do and that commitment to live sales will always remain central to the business.

“But there are huge opportunities to continue developing our online platforms and supporting customers through a range of routes to market."

Laura Millar will now play a key role within that structure as director and head of operations (Farmstock), initially focusing heavily on Farmstock operations while supporting wider integration across the business.

Mr Rankin said: “Laura is absolutely the right person to take on this hugely important role.

“She brings a tremendous understanding of H&H, strong operational leadership skills and a real commitment to driving progress across the organisation.

“Working as part of the newly created Operations Team, led by chief operating officer Mark Johnson, Laura’s focus will initially be on Farmstock.”

Ms Millar said the role represented a natural progression within the business.

“This is a fantastic opportunity and a natural next step for me professionally,” she said.

“I’m looking forward to continuing to work with teams across the business, building on the experience I’ve gained and supporting the ongoing development of operations across the organisation.”

Mr Rankin said the changes would support stronger collaboration and consistency across H&H’s seven operating centres while creating greater resilience within teams.

“The idea is that operations become less tied to one individual business stream and more part of one overall team,” he said.

“It also helps create consistency across the business because consistency can sometimes be difficult enough within one mart, never mind across multiple centres and divisions.”

H&H currently employs around 300 staff and Mr Rankin said morale across the business was currently exceptionally strong.

“I’ve probably never seen the team more motivated or organised,” he said.

“They really seem to be singing at the minute right across the business.

“The reception to the changes internally has been very, very positive. I think people were probably ready for it.”

The restructuring comes during a strong trading period for the business, with Mr Rankin revealing H&H is on course for another record financial year.

“Last year was a record year and there’s a feeling we could beat it again,” he said.

“There are always challenges in business, particularly around people, but overall things are moving in the right direction.”

While acknowledging buoyant livestock prices had helped the business, he stressed H&H’s focus remained on increasing market share and strengthening its position within the sector.

“You can’t ignore the price of livestock because that obviously helps enormously,” he said.

“But we’ve also managed to increase market share again this year despite overall volumes dropping across a lot of classes.

Brand development has also become a major part of the wider transformation.

Mr Rankin revealed the company had spent the past 18 months working with external consultants on redefining the H&H identity and values.

“We brought people in from all around the business and asked questions about what it means to work here and what matters to them,” he said.

“That’s where the whole ‘Rural Matters’ message has come from.

“It’s not just a slogan. It’s genuinely what we stand for and what we want built into the DNA of the business.”

Looking ahead, Mr Rankin suggested the new structure could also create opportunities for H&H to expand into additional areas of the rural economy once the integration process is complete.

“What more can we bring in?” he said.

“Is there something around land, advisory work or products? We’re keeping a very open mind.

“This structure will hopefully free me up more to actually get out there, speak to people, understand the challenges they’re facing and look at what opportunities exist.”

As the business approaches its landmark 150th year, Mr Rankin believes the latest restructure is simply the next stage in a long history of evolution within H&H.

“When you look back through history, H&H has evolved several times,” he said.

“This is just another evolution that recognises the world we live in now.

“You can’t stand still in business, particularly in agriculture.

“Times change and we have to change with them.”