A 'natural entrepreneur' whose instinct is 'to trade and make money' has just completed 30 years with Framlingham Farmers, the progressive Suffolk-based farmer-owned purchasing and marketing company which operates throughout East Anglia, the South East, South West and North West of England.
Manager of Framtrade Ltd - a wholly-owned trading subsidiary of Framlingham Farmers which is involved mainly in the supply of bulk/bottled gas and electricity to non-farm customers - Gary Pleasance was born in Munster, Germany, where his father was stationed in the Army. Subsequent postings took the family to Hong Kong as well as several army bases in West Germany. At the age of 14, the family returned to the UK and settled in north Suffolk. On completing his schooling, Gary joined Armour le Grys Turkeys at Holton in Norfolk as a trainee accountant, but was made redundant just six months later when the business was sold.
Looking for pastures new, Gary joined Framlingham Farmers as a Building Materials Buyer in December 1977, when the company had just 12 employees and everyone had to turn their hand to a variety of tasks. In Gary's case that also meant assisting with ordering agrochemicals/fertilizers and subsequently he did every job connected with the Purchasing Department, eventually becoming Purchasing Manager.
Framtrade Ltd replaced Framlingham Farmers' original Farm Cash and Carry non-stock trading division which traded goods and products that the company was unable to stock. One of its main functions was to facilitate purchases of agricultural machinery for Members direct from the manufacturers, bypassing the trade cartels that existed within the industry during the 1980s. Ten years ago Gary detached himself from the Purchasing Department to devote all his time to expanding Framtrade Ltd, which is an unusual development within the environment of a farmer-owned cooperative purchasing and marketing business. Gary comments:
"The original challenge from Framlingham Farmers was to make money from non-Member trading. During the last 10 years the business has expanded considerably to the point where it has become the largest LPG distribution business in East Suffolk, with 15 distributors and more than 1000 domestic fuel customers. During the last 10 years it has contributed £500,000 to Framlingham Farmers' reserves, exceeding the original target by some margin."
Having lived in the Suffolk village of Laxfield for a number of years, Gary leads a very active life outside of work. Through his own business, G.P. Leisure, he is a licensee of two village halls and at one time even owned his local pub, the Royal Oak in Laxfield. Since 1981 he has been Captain or Chairman of Laxfield Bowls Club, the current Suffolk Senior Cup Champions, is a qualified football referee and Treasurer of Locomotive Laxfield F.C. A keen sportsman, Gary also enjoys following Formula One, is an avid Ipswich Town Football Club supporter and every winter heads for America or Canada in search of snow to pursue his passion for skiing.
Gary's natural ability to organise events means that in addition to his role within Framtrade he is also the man behind Framlingham Farmers' presence at a number of trade and regional shows throughout the year. However, just being there is not enough for Gary: he always aims to win a prize for the best stand, a feat accomplished at the Suffolk County Show for the last two years. Gary has also overseen the Framlingham Farmers' Pig Groups since their formation eight years ago and as Group Coordinator arranges study tours to various countries, with recent visits to Holland, the USA and China.
Proud of the fact that he is a self-taught entrepreneur, relying on 'nous' rather than formal qualifications, Gary has always been keen to exercise his creative ability and set out to achieve the best possible deals for Framlingham Farmers' Members. Explaining his reasons for staying with the company for so long, he says:
"Framlingham Farmers has always allowed me the freedom to do what I enjoy most, which is to trade and make money, so I have never felt the need to move on to pastures new."
