Members of Lingrain enjoyed a pre-Christmas bonus in the form of a distribution of reserves amounting to £350,000 by the board of directors, which was approved at the society’s recent AGM.

Chairman Hugh Baker said that “company reserves had been rising for some time and despite a substantial store refurbishment programme, retained surpluses were now at a level where a distribution was appropriate, without prejudicing the on-going business”.

Lingrain is a grain store based on Boston Docks, which can hold circa 50,000 tonnes and typically handles 150,000 tonnes of imports/exports annually; it is owned by 65 farmer-members from the surrounding area. Financially, it is one of the soundest farmer owned stores in the sector having shied away from any debt laden expansion programmes.

Hugh Baker added that at this time, “Lingrain had no intention of involving the private sector in store ownership and has recently renewed a management agreement with its long-term partner Openfield, another farmer controlled business, which will lead to continued export opportunities and support long-term profitability”.

Storage space is available in Lingrain at a cost of £100 per tonne payable over seven years, with no interest charges.

“Combined with low annual utilisation charges, it is probably one of the lowest cost central storage facility offers in the country, that also has a history of returning surpluses to its members,” said Hugh Baker.