Richard Rankin, CEO H&H Group comments:

As a business rooted deeply in the local rural economy, it has been painful to see the effects of a year of uncertainty and stress on our farming customers. But as this year draws to an end, H&H Group is gearing up to offer as much support as possible to help all our farming and rural customers and communities move forward in 2026.

Farming has always been prone to uncertainties, notably the vagaries of the weather and price fluctuations. This year farmers have been forced to contend with continuing inflation in costs, rising taxation and the existential threat of IHT.

At the same time, Government support has been dwindling, and many of the new environmentally focused grant schemes have been at best inadequately funded or at worst unavailable.

Agile farmers are already adapting their businesses with the use of technology and diversification, and while some sectors including dairy are having an exceptionally challenging time, at the moment, larger operations are benefiting from economies of scale and proving that the industry can produce very good food and be environmentally friendly at the same time.

For H&H Group as a rural business founded on livestock auctioneering, the challenges facing farming can be seen in the declining livestock numbers in both the national herd and the national flock. High prices are temporarily masking that decline, but the industry must adapt for the future, and as a company operating within the sector we are adapting to support it.

For the H&H Group 2026 is going to be a groundbreaking year.  In the coming months we will be moving from a 'Group culture' to a single brand. We will bring together all the services our farming customers, rural businesses and communities need to move forward successfully and sustainably into the future.

Under the H&H brand we will operate as a single, integrated business with multiple service lines offering livestock and farm machinery trading, land management and conservation, land, farms, residential sales and lettings, insurance broking, asset finance and wealth management. We are focussing all our strengths on helping to protect the whole spectrum of the rural sector, from the big progressive agricultural business to the smaller traditional farming family.

During the past year we have continued to invest in our main Borderway hub and in the infrastructure of our marts across the North and Borders. We'll be investing more in 2026 and most importantly, continuing our investment in our people.

It is the quality, skill and experience of our people that has made H&H Group successful, and in 2026 we want to encourage more farmers and rural business people to come and talk to us, because our people can help them succeed too.

Farmers are very often isolated and reluctant to ask for help, but H&H offers support, advice and a network of staff and customers who understand the concerns and challenges they face, and can help find solutions.

We're very concerned for the well-being of our farming customers dealing with growing pressures that seriously affect their mental health, and we believe it is our duty to  stand up for them and make a collective impact in the campaign to persuade policymakers to provide more support for the industry.

Looking forward, there are clearly going to be more pressures on employment costs with the rise in the minimum wage and the increase in National Insurance, and the issue of IHT remains a very dark cloud for many farming families.

But to finish on a positive, if you zoom out and look at the bigger global picture, red meat consumption continues to rise, demand for high quality food is not going away and we are in prime position to be part of these solutions – both food production and environmental sustainability.

Together with Interest rates stabilising or even falling slightly early 2026, this should make it easier for rural businesses to invest in the new technology and diversification that will make all the difference to their future.

And H&H Group will be investing to help in every way we can.