The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Forfar firm helping to make farmers’ lives easier
Famous family firm in Forfar set to celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2020
Creating innovative products to make farmers’ lives easier and safer is a key focus of agricultural engineering firm Ritchie.
The Forfar-based firm, which employs 120 staff and has an annual turnover of £13 million, is preparing to celebrate its 150th anniversary next year.
The family business, which still involves two members of the Ritchie family, produces a range of equipment for the agricultural and energy sectors.
As well as its Forfar base, the firm runs a site in the West Midlands.
“The main markets are livestock, bale handling and grassland equipment for the agricultural sector,” said managing director Andrew Edwards.
“We also do sub-contract work to manufacture products for well-known global clients in the transport sector and disabled sector.
“We are also very big in the oil and gas sector and make a lot of gas handling equipment.”
A key innovation by the company in recent years has been the development of an automatic weighing system, attached to a water trough, for cattle.
The beef monitor system weighs an animal and scans its electronic identification (EID) tag every time it goes for a drink, before sending the information to an online database.
Mr Edwards said the company would focus on introducing more technology to its livestock systems to aid farmers.
He said: “We pride ourselves on innovation and on making things easier for our clients, or making things safer.
“This is particularly important on the agricultural side because there’s fewer and fewer people working on farms.”
Undeterred by Brexit, Mr Edwards said he wasn’t overly concerned about sourcing raw materials in future as the company’s supply of soft steel comes from various different sources.
He added: “What we are likely to see is extended lead times with Brexit and there may be tax implications so things might be more expensive. But the industrial market is fairly steady and we are constantly finding new clients.”
He said company growth was planned, and health and safety would remain a top priority for the firm.
Mr Edwards added: “We want to make sure that we send people home in the same condition that they turned up to work.
“I feel a responsibility in securing people’s jobs and making sure there’s employment here.”
He admitted the fact the company’s products are vastly cheaper than other agricultural products, such as tractors, helps maintain sales.
Mr Edwards said: “There’s always some rumblings in the agricultural sector about things not being right or not great.
“That might mean a farmer puts off buying a tractor for 12 months, but it does not stop them buying a field gate or a feed ring.”