A director of strategy has been appointed for Harrison & Hetherington.
H&H Group said Laura Millar has been promoted to the role for the continuing development of the nationally respected livestock trading operations.
Laura joined the Harrison & Hetherington team at Borderway in 2017 as livestock schemes manager, and for the past two years she has transformed the company’s marketing focus as head of communications & marketing and strategic projects.
Now in her new role as the first ever director of strategy, Laura will take responsibility for the delivery of the full range of long term strategic projects for the Harrison & Hetherington senior management team, building on the company’s continuing success within the UK’s livestock trading industry.
Based at Borderway in Carlisle and reporting directly to the managing director of Harrison & Hetherington she will bring her expertise and her deep-rooted understanding of the agricultural industry to bear on the development of sustainable strategies that will help make the business fit for the future and extend the value and relevance of the company’s services to a growing customer base.
H&H Group CEO Richard Rankin said: “Laura has shown just how effectively we can use pioneering marketing solutions to provide greater value for our customers and clients, and many of the strategies she has already developed for our livestock trading markets are also applicable to our H&H Land & Estates services and H&H Insurance Brokers.
“Harrison & Hetherington is the group’s longest established and foremost business, and Laura’s skills and commitment will undoubtedly keep us in the forefront of innovation and expansion as we broaden our influence and role in the future of the rural sector.”
Brought up on the family farm in the Scottish Borders, and now married to Dumfriesshire dairy farmer Donald, Laura has livestock farming in her DNA.
While achieving a BA in rural business management at the Scottish Agricultural College, she served as secretary of the Agricultural Society at the University of Edinburgh, and laid the foundations for a career in agriculture working with the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society and completing an internship with the Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspection Directorate.
In 2013, Laura was selected as a delegate for the Marks & Spencer Cranfield Agri Leaders Programme, and for the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth Next Generation programme in Singapore in 2016. She joined Harrison & Hetherington following five years as agriculture livestock liaison manager at Scotbeef Ltd, mediating between Scotbeef, retailers, and grassroots producers.
She said: “In recent years, the livestock industry has been confronted with unprecedented challenges that fundamentally affect the viability of the sector for every farmer and landowner. Now, more than ever, it’s essential that we help buyers and sellers achieve the best possible value for their stock.
“My overall responsibility as a director will be to develop and deliver the strategies that will achieve the strongest connections to the widest possible markets, locally, nationally, and globally. Harrison & Hetherington has been at the forefront of cutting edge marketing in our sector, however I know that there are so many more opportunities we can offer customers, and I am thrilled to be given the chance to help take the both the company and the industry I love to new levels of service.”
Harrison & Hetherington managing director, Scott Donaldson said: “Laura is a perfect example of our commitment to fostering home-grown talent, and over the seven years she has been with us she has made an invaluable contribution to our growth and development.
“She has led the strategic direction of our marketing for the farmstock sector of our business during a period when this division has broken the £200 million turnover mark, and she has led the organising team responsible for our highly successful national Agri and Dairy Expos at Borderway.
“Laura is highly motivated and creative, she’s a great team player and an exceptional leader. Again and again, she has demonstrated her capacity to make a major difference to the business, and I know that she will now use every opportunity to take her contribution to an even higher level.”
