Farm sector faces £1.6m losses as staff fail to return equipment

The agriculture sector could be suffering losses of up to £1.6 million due to staff failing to return company uniforms and equipment when they leave their jobs, according to new data.

At a time when many businesses are continuing to keep a tightened belt on core operations and shave away unnecessary costs, these losses demonstrate that significant leaks still exist in many businesses’ efficiency methods.

And even though many businesses are aware that individual outgoing staff are keeping hold of their uniforms, they are often unaware of the financial hit that this involves. As a result, little is being done to recoup the impact this cost is having not only for individual businesses, but for the economy as a whole.

A major factor is a high number of employees working on temporary contracts adding to high staff turnover rates, which are already higher within agriculture than many other industries.

According to the most recent industry breakdown, the agriculture sector has a staff turnover rate of 11.7 per cent, meaning they are one of the most vulnerable sectors to the potential losses facing businesses.

Martin Lyne, Managing Director at Alexandra, says that businesses must review all of their procurement spend in order to identify how to make savings. He said: “Businesses need to make sure that they do not end up overlooking areas of significant hidden costs when looking to control their finances. Identifying all areas of potential loss is essential to understanding where companies need to make cuts. Unfortunately, among the many costs and difficult decisions facing businesses at the moment, workwear losses have seemed unimportant, either due to lack of awareness of the value involved, or because it is a burden upon time and resources.

“However, it is important that businesses understand the true impact upon the sector and begin to take this issue seriously by closing the gap on what is essentially a very avoidable cost.”

Businesses can take simple steps to reduce future expenditure in this area, according to Lyne:

“Although losses being caused by workwear wastage are significant, businesses can protect themselves by implementing a simple, conscientious uniform policy. Being more active about getting workwear and equipment back from workers is a small time investment that will pay dividends in the long run.”