AHDB claims savings top £3.8M for home agri-industries
AHDB claims savings top £3.8M for home agri-industries
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) claims its latest year-end figures show it is delivering the savings and added value it was set up to achieve.
When publishing its latest Annual Report and Accounts, AHDB showed it’s now securing targeted annual savings on support costs of more than £3.8m. Better procurement of services brought a 2011/12 saving of £424,433.
AHDB was formed in 2008 from the merger of five previously independent levy boards. The aim was to deliver greater levy payer value through sharing support costs and focusing project funding on greater cross-sector working.
Improved efficiencies saw the amount of income spent on support costs drop a further 2p to 13p in every pound. This built on the previous year’s cut in running costs of 19p (2009/10) down to 15p (2010/11) of every pound spent.
On top of these efficiencies, the AHDB commitment to joint working between its divisional teams – branded BPEX, DairyCo, EBLEX, HGCA, HDC and Potato Council – and with external partners has continued to foster innovation and grow market opportunities for its levy payers.
“My job is to manage the day-to-day operation of AHDB as efficiently as possible, to give our levy payers effective front-line services and the best possible value for money,” said AHDB Chief Executive Tom Taylor.
“Operational efficiencies continue to be achieved through improved systems and a stronger team-working culture which has got all our experts in research and development (R&D) and knowledge transfer (KT), for example, working much closer together,” he added.
“This is facilitating much better sharing of best practice and ideas and a swifter identification of projects that carry benefits across two or more sectors, thereby spreading costs.”
