A well-known businessman in the north-east farming community is the recipient of this year’s Aberdeen & Northern Marts’ Local Award.
The Royal Northern Agricultural Society (RNAS) recently unveiled the recipients of its prestigious annual awards and will present the winners with their accolades at next week’s awards lunch.
This year’s recipient is Gordon Towns, who is a partner of Towns & Carnie Ltd, specialising in animal health and supplying animal products to farmers throughout the north-east and beyond.
Gordon was brought up at Cummingston in Morayshire and left school at the age of 15, before going on to be a clerk at Elgin Mart.
His father was one of 15 children who grew up on a croft at Cummingston and it was there where Gordon first took his interests in livestock when the croft was farmed by his uncle.
After spending 8 years as a mart clerk, where he started on a wage of just £3 per week, before increasing to £9 per week, Gordon moved onto a new career with the Hydro-Electric Board, as a metre reader.
His weekly wage packet was boosted to £15 per week.
“After reading metres for a few years, I went into the animal health trade in 1967 and worked as a rep for Animal Health Services, working mainly with pig and poultry farmers” said Gordon.
“The company was taken over and I was asked to move to Turriff to run the site there. It was then taken over again by North Eastern Farmers.”
It was in 1982 when Gordon could see a niche market for animal health products and he approached fellow colleague Sandy Carnie.
The duo started up with a shop at the old Kittybrewster Mart in Aberdeen, and had a council unit in Turriff.
In 1990, when ANM opened Thainstone Centre, the business rented new premises within the complex, before opening up a shop at Turriff in 1995.
The company then expanded to Huntly and opened its shop there a few years later.
Gordon said: “We never dreamt the company would turn out to what it has today but I do remember our old accountant saying ‘If you don’t go forward, you’ll go back.’
“We never took big jumps, we just increased steadily and introduced more staff as we needed them.”
One of Towns and Carnie’s longest serving employees is Keith Brown, who has been with the company for 37 years.
For some time, it was just Gordon, Sandy and Keith, who worked in the company but it now employs 14 members of staff including the two owners.
Farmers seem to specialise
Since establishing the business, Gordon says one of the biggest changes is how few farms there are now.
“When we went out and about to get business, there were farms all over the place and they were generally all mixed farms, growing crops and keeping various livestock,” he said.
“Now, there are very few and farmers seem to be specialise in either livestock or arable.”
Gordon Towns: ‘Real honour’ to receive RNAS award
He said it was an honour to have so many loyal customers and to be working with the third generation in some farming businesses.
On winning the RNAS award, Gordon said: “It is a real honour to be the recipient of this award. I never expected to receive such an accolade and am very grateful to those who put me forward for it.”
As well as still working two days per week in the shop at Turriff, Gordon and his wife Ann, run the well-known Forglen stud of Highland ponies, which has brought much success over the years for the couple.
They have won multiple at prestigious events over the years and their breeding is very much in demand.
Gordon previously ran a herd of 30 Luing cows but now buys in suckled Luing calves from the Scottish Borders for finishing.
