Another of Scotland’s agricultural research facilities has plunged into the red.
Accounts reveal The James Hutton Institute posted a £516,000 pre-tax loss for the year to March 31, against a £250,000 profit previously.
It follows rural college SRUC into the red. It ran up a £1.541million operating loss over the same financial period, but at the bottom line posted a £4.29million profit after a £2.994million gain from the sale of land in Aberdeen. There was also the release of £2.837million of “negative goodwill” as a result of the merger process that created it through linking the Scottish Agricultural College and the rural further education colleges at Elmwood, Barony and Oatridge.
Income at the Hutton, created in 2011 from the merger of Aberdeen’s Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and the Scottish Crop Research Institute at Invergowrie, near Dundee, was down £102,000 at £38.669million, while costs were up £677,000 to £39.255million.
Directors said in their annual report that given the challenging financial circumstances they were seeking new ways to exploit the world-class skills and facilities at the institute. Scottish Enterprise had been appointed to develop an income-generation strategy.
They also said the Scottish Government had funded a feasibility study into the development of the Invergowrie site, where many of the institute’s facilities and buildings required upgrading work.
The report said the Hutton and its subsidiaries posted a group operating surplus of £1.32million, an £870,000 increase. That was made up of surpluses of £680,000 from the institute itself, £482,000 from commercial arm Mylnefield Research Services and £161,000 from Macaulay Scientific Consultancy.
The surplus was, however, insufficient to cover for capital replacement needs and reduced levels of capital grant funding which directors said would require a focus on generating income from other sources as well as on efficiency and cost control.
The institute expanded its agricultural activities over the year buying the 126-acre unit of Berryhill which lies adjacent to its existing farming operation at Balruddery, near Fowlis, Angus.
It declined to reveal the purchase price at the time it bought the unit in June 2012, but the accounts show it paid £1.012million.
The unnamed highest-paid employee, thought to be chief executive Professor Ian Gordon, received an unchanged pay package of £135,000. There was, however, an increase of 11 in the number of staff paid between £60-£69,000 over the year. One staff member also moved into the £90-£99,000 pay bracket.