Riding out the challenges of Brexit, Covid and the war in Ukraine, the company noted it was hopeful for what comes next.

Daniel Chilvers, managing director of Thomas Mawer Ltd, said the company is motivated by a move to new premises, a buoyant balance sheet and the responsibility from a switch two years ago to employee ownership.

He said: “We have a good foundation from the former owners who built the company over the years but we don’t get carried away when times are good and we don’t get too down when it’s hard.

“For last year we did £100m turnover which was a record, but that’s partly down to the cost of the raw material prices shooting up over the last 18 months. We work on very narrow margins which tend to get smaller as raw material prices rise.

“We have successfully rebuilt our balance sheet since buying the business and there’s nothing stopping us going out and funding new developments”

Thomas Mawer Ltd employs 19 people across offices in Essex, Hereford and Hull city centre, where the business opened 45 years ago and still has its headquarters, recently moving into a third floor suite refurbished by Allenby Commercial at Chariot House in Carr Lane.

in 2020, the company also went into employee ownership, during which time colleagues supported Mr Chilvers appointment as managing director.

The company buys raw materials and commodities from all over the world and the UK and sells to animal feed companies and feed manufacturers, including most of the feed mills in Yorkshire who then supply the county’s farmers.

Noting the challenges of Brexit, Mr Chilvers said: “Brexit was a significant event because we import a lot of our materials from Europe.

“There are 30 to 40 lorry loads a month of a whole range of raw materials we import.

“It became a higher stress part of the business and we have employed additional staff to deal with the extra admin.

“The costs ultimately get passed on to consumers but we had to adapt and learn new things and that distracted from the day job and it all happened at the same time as Covid with a new way of working.”

“A number of staff left the business during Covid and we had to recruit new people who had to learn and get training.

“It seems a long time ago now but in 2021 therewas the chronic shortage of HGV drivers and then to cap it all the war, which sent everything from agricultural products to gas prices shooting through the roof.

“Now the dollar strength is giving us more headaches but there will always be challenges and we just roll up our sleeves.

Mr Chilvers noted that despite these issues, the company was hopeful going forward.

“We are in a decent position with good demand and we are always developing new products,” he said.

“We have to be ahead of the game and it will be exciting to see where we are in three or four years.”

Employee-owners of animal feed company have an appetite for growth