Nationally respected agricultural auctioneers, Harrison & Hetherington, are about to mark the 50th anniversary of their successful Borderway Mart complex in Carlisle.
From its opening sale on Friday 23, August 1974, the auctioneering business based at Borderway has grown into the cornerstone of the H&H Group’s network of seven marts across the North West and the Borders, and is one of the most successful livestock trading hubs in the UK.
Harrison & Hetherington auctioneers today sell 820,000 or £240m worth of animals every year through this Carlisle-based centre, attracting buyers and sellers to its international showcase sales from across the UK, Ireland, and Europe.
It was the first company in the UK to offer online livestreaming and real time bidding of sales, which today attracts buyers and audiences from as far away as Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
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Botchergate
Forced to move from their original city centre mart in Botchergate to make way for a new road development, in the early 1970’s, H&H identified the old Durranhill army camp (now known as Rosehill), on the southern edge of Carlisle as the ideal site for their brand new, architect-designed mart.
Westmoreland MP, the Rt Hon William Whitelaw, officially opened the mart and on the opening week, Friday, at Borderway, 353 head of accredited dairy cattle comprising 144 calved cows and heifers, 72 calving cows and heifers and 137 bulling heifers and heifer stirks, were presented for sale. It attracted an estimated attendance of 3000 from a wide area.
Local MP and future home secretary, officiated as auctioneer in the sale of the championship winning in-calf Friesian heifer shown by GA Bellas of Bedlandsgate near Penrith, bringing the hammer down on a successful bid of £1180 from A Swales of Overthwaite Holm, Carnforth.
On Friday, August 23, 2024, exactly 50 years to the day since Borderway opened, H&H will mark the milestone by recreating that first sale with some special guests who were involved in the mart’s earliest days. Former auctioneers Michael Dickie and Robert Harrison will take to the rostrum to auction the first lots, and several original members of staff have been invited as guests of honour to the Anniversary Sale Day Breakfast including John Carruthers, Howard Matthews, Isobel McVittie, Cyril Hogg, John Clark, and Micky Thompson.
Over 50 years on, the numbers sold and the values realised at Borderway have risen to levels that could not have been imagined, and some of the long serving members of today’s Borderway team remember the landmark moments in the development of the ‘new’ mart to its present best-in-class operation.
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Landmark moments
Michael Armstrong, senior IT and administration manager, joined H&H at Borderway as an office junior 40 years ago at the age of 17 said: “I worked on the front desk, basically doing customer service, before it was known as customer service, helping out with prices realised in the sales.
“The working days were longer then, we started booking cattle in at 6am on a Monday morning and some days we were still doing this at 4pm in the afternoon. In those days H&H Estates was also based at Borderway and there was a huge motor auction. Nearly everything was completed manually, and I remember Wendy Dean, the Group’s telephonist, using an old-fashioned switchboard to manage the hundreds of calls we received.
“One of the most significant changes to have impacted the industry is computerisation, but when I started one chore was writing every cheque by hand from a blank cheque book, and sometimes this could have been 1000 cheques to write. The Group introduced the first computer a year before I joined. It was the size of a desk and the disc, which was changed every evening, was at least two feet wide.”
Auctioneer, Andrew Templeton began his working life at Borderway as a trainee auctioneer 43 years ago, employed by the then managing director, Dick Harrison.
He said: “One of the biggest changes at Borderway has been regulation – it is like every industry; you are far more accountable today.
“Back then technology and procedures were very simple, sales were clerked manually in the ring and we had an air tube system that we sent all the papers into the main office and the main office processed them to produce the bills. There were no passports, you only took the ear numbers of female cattle. When the passports were introduced, it created a lot more bureaucracy!
“The other big change of course is in the level of throughput of animals. When I started, we would have 50 head of store cattle, coming through the ring and a milestone day was when we put 2000 under the hammer.
First £1m sales day
“Volumes and values have obviously changed over the years, and a truly significant day was in the late 1980s, our first £1msales day. It was the September three-day store cattle sale; the excitement was phenomenal and when we finished the sale Dick Harrison got the whisky out. Now some weeks we can have up to three or four £1m sales days.
“Change has been continuous and we’ve gone from strength to strength to become the premier company in terms of livestock trading. As Dick Harrison said, ‘There is nothing wrong with competition as long as it is weaker than you’.”
Lorne Dixon began working as a junior in financial control at Borderway 45 years ago and continues to be a core member of the financial administration team.
BSE and foot-and-mouth
“Initially it was all manual, and our main daily challenge was marking off and balancing the day’s trade,” he said.
Lorne vividly remembers the terrible impact of BSE and the devastation of foot-and-mouth, but his main impression is of growth and continuity.
“Borderway itself has changed and grown and so has the trade, but a lot of the same farming families are still selling and buying, and its nice to see it passing on to different generations.
“More and more are happy to leave their stock and leave the auctioneers in charge – this really started during Covid – which means we’re saving the farmers time so many can’t spare.”
Now a senior clerk, responsible for coordinating private sales Mark Jefferson started work at Borderway 46 years ago as an office junior in 1978.
“I grew up on a farm in a farming family, and all I wanted to do was to be a farmer until I came here on work experience. When the week was over, I got a letter from the office manager asking me to go to his house for a meeting, we had tea in his front living room, and he asked me if I wanted a full-time job with H&H and I said yes.
“I learned the ropes for the first few years and then started to book in cattle. We started at 6.00am, and some nights we finished at 9.00 or 10.00 o’clock at night, and we were paid weekly in cash.
Vehicle auctions
“BSE and foot-and-mouth were major milestones, and during foot-and-mouth I was the only office person here. Everyone else was seconded to Defra and I was left to look after the vehicle auctions. I have enjoyed every day I work here. I like the people, the staff and the farmers. It’s a way of life and working at Borderway has kept me within an industry I love,” said Mark.
The Borderway 50th Anniversary celebrates the continuity those memories represent, according Harrison & Hetherington ceo, Scott Donaldson.
“The people who make it work and the farmers who use Borderway are right at the heart of our success.
“We have come so far from that first sale because we’ve been able to offer a quality of service and a value that buyers and sellers can trust.”
50 Years at Borderway and Continuing to Lead the Way
Nationally & internationally respected agricultural auctioneers, Harrison & Hetherington, are about to mark the 50th anniversary of their hugely successful Borderway Mart complex in Carlisle.
From its opening sale on Friday 23rd August 1974, Harrison & Hetherington at Borderway has grown into the cornerstone of the H&H Group’s network of seven marts across the North West and the Borders, and one of the most successful livestock trading hubs in the UK.
Harrison & Hetherington auctioneers today sell 820,000 or £240 millions worth of animals every year through this Carlisle based centre, attracting buyers and sellers to its international showcase sales from across the UK, Ireland, and Europe. This hugely progressive business leads the way in livestock trading and it was the first company in the UK to offer online livestreaming and real time bidding of sales, which today attract buyers and audiences as far away as Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
Forced to move from their original city centre mart in Botchergate to make way for a new road development, in the early 1970’s, H&H identified the old Durranhill army camp (now known as Rosehill), on the southern edge of Carlisle as the ideal site for their brand new, architect-designed mart. Positioned a pitchfork toss from the M6, the new Borderway complex offered state-of-the art, fully covered mart facilities capable of handling major volume sales of livestock and poultry, agricultural equipment, cars and commercial vehicles, together with the social spaces that continue to make Borderway the foremost rural community hub in the region.
Harrison & Hetherington’s Borderway mart was officially opened for business by the Westmoreland MP, the Rt. Hon. William Whitelaw, and the sale made the headlines in the Cumberland News:
On the first day of their opening week, Friday, at Borderway Mart, Carlisle, Harrison & Hetherington Ltd, presented 353 head of accredited dairy cattle comprising 144 calved cows and heifers, 72 calving cows and heifers and 137 bulling heifers and heifer stirks. This attracted buyers from a wide area and the estimated attendance was in excess of 3,000.
The local MP and future Home Secretary also officiated as auctioneer in the sale of the Championship Cup-winning in-calf Friesian heifer shown by Mr G A Bellas of Bedlandsgate near Penrith, bringing the hammer down on a successful bid of £1,180 from Mr A Swales of Overthwaite Holm, Carnforth.
On Friday 23rd August 2024, exactly 50 years to the day since Borderway opened, H&H will mark the milestone by recreating that first sale with some special guests who were involved in the mart’s earliest days. Former auctioneers Michael Dickie and Robert Harrison will take to the rostrum to auction the first lots, and several original members of staff have been invited as guests of honour to the Anniversary Sale Day Breakfast including John Carruthers, Howard Matthews, Isobel McVittie, Cyril Hogg, John Clark, and Micky Thompson.
Over 50 years on, the numbers sold and the values realised at Borderway have risen to levels that could not have been imagined, and some of the long serving members of today’s Borderway team remember the landmark moments in the development of the ‘new’ mart to its present best-in-class operation.
Michael Armstrong, Senior IT & Administration Manager, joined H&H at Borderway as an office junior 40 years ago at the age of 17, “I worked on the front desk, basically doing customer service, before it was known as customer service, helping out with prices realised in the sales. The working days were longer then, we started booking cattle in at 6am on a Monday morning and some days we were still doing this at 4pm in the afternoon. In those days H&H Estates was also based at Borderway and there was a huge motor auction. In those days nearly everything was completed manually, and I remember Wendy Dean, the Group’s telephonist, using an old-fashioned switchboard to manage the hundreds of calls we received.
“One of the most significant changes to have impacted the industry is computerization, but when I started one chore was writing every cheque by hand from a blank cheque book, and sometimes this could have been 1000 cheques to write. The Group introduced the first computer a year before I joined. It was the size of a desk and the disc, which was changed every evening, was at least two feet wide.”
Auctioneer, Andrew Templeton began his working life at Borderway as a trainee Auctioneer 43 years ago, employed by the then Managing Director, Dick Harrison. “One of the biggest changes at Borderway has been regulation – it is like every industry; you are far more accountable today. Back then technology and procedures were very simple, sales were clerked manually in the ring and we had an air tube system that we sent all the papers into the main office and the main office processed them to produce the bills. There were no passports, you only took the ear numbers of female cattle. When the passports were introduced, it created a lot more bureaucracy!
“The other big change of course is in the level of throughput of animals. When I started, we would have 50 head of store cattle, coming through the ring and a milestone day was when we put 2,000 under the hammer. Volumes and values have obviously changed over the years, and a truly significant day was in the late 1980s, our first £1 million sales day. It was the September three day store cattle sale; the excitement was phenomenal and when we finished the sale Dick Harrison got the whisky out. Now some weeks we can have up to 3 or 4 £1million sales days.
“Change has been continuous and we’ve gone from strength to strength to become the premier company in terms of livestock trading. As Dick Harrison said, ‘There is nothing wrong with competition as long as it is weaker than you’.”
Lorne Dixon began working as a junior in Financial Control at Borderway 45 years ago and continues to be a core member of the Financial Administration team. “Initially it was all manual, and our main daily challenge was marking off and balancing the day’s trade.”
Lorne vividly remembers the terrible impact of BSE and the devastation of Foot & Mouth, but his main impression is of growth and continuity. “Borderway itself has changed and grown and so has the trade, but a lot of the same farming families are still selling and buying, and its nice to see it passing on to different generations. More and more are happy to leave their stock and leave the auctioneers in charge – this really started during Covid – which means we’re saving the farmers time so many can’t spare.”
Now a Senior Clerk, responsible for coordinating Private Sales Mark Jefferson started work at Borderway 46 years ago as an office junior in 1978. “I grew up on a farm in a farming family, and all I wanted to do was to be a farmer until I came here on work experience. When the week was over, I got a letter from the office manager asking me to go to his house for a meeting, we had tea in his front living room, and he asked me if I wanted a full-time job with H&H and I said yes.
“I learned the ropes for the first few years and then started to book in cattle. We started at 6.00 am, and some nights we finished at 9.00 or 10.00 o’clock at night, and we were paid weekly in cash. BSE and Foot & Mouth were major milestones, and during Foot & Mouth I was the only office person here. Everyone else was seconded to Defra and I was left to look after the vehicle auctions. I have enjoyed every day I work here. I like the people, the staff and the farmers. It’s a way of life and working at Borderway has kept me within an industry I love.”
The Borderway 50th Anniversary celebrates the continuity those memories represent, says Harrison & Hetherington CEO, Scott Donaldson, and the enormous changes the mart has achieved.
“The people who make it work and the farmers who use Borderway are right at the heart of our success. We have come so far from that first sale because we’ve been able to offer a quality of service and a value that buyers and sellers can trust.
“We could not have dreamed Borderway would achieve the scale and quality of today’s trade or the kind of sophisticated technology that makes our online sales and livestreaming possible. But we’ve always been committed to offering our customers and clients the highest level of service and the widest reach. Looking back at the extraordinary changes of the past 50 years gives me an inspiring perspective as to what we can achieve as a company based from here at Borderway in the next half century.”
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