Liverpool family-owned agricultural and consumer products business Billington Group sees annual revenues push back above £600m with shareholders pocketing dividends of £3m. Tony McDonough reports
Agricultural and consumer products business Billington Group says annual revenues are back above £600m amid strong trading across its four principal divisions.
Billington Group, the trading name of the family-owned Edward Billington and Son, has posted its accounts for the 12 months to August 31, 2025, on Companies House. They show revenues of £601.8m, having dipped to just under £590m in the previous year.
Pre-tax profits for the trading period totalled £18m, 31% higher than the previous year. Shareholders of the business, which has just relocated from Cunard Building on Liverpool waterfront to The Plaza in St Paul’s Square, receive £3m in dividends.
Billington started as a family business in Liverpool in 1858 with founder Edward Billington importing tea, coffee and sugar into the UK. The business grew into a major trading venture.
It operated in a number of food and agriculture-related sectors throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century. Following the COVID pandemic the business underwent a restructuring.
It now employs more than 1,800 people across four divisions – EPC, Billington Foods, Carrs Billington Agriculture and Criddle.
EPC makes sauces, dressings, condiments, mayonnaise and marinades for food manufacturers and retailers.
Writing in the annual report, acting chair James Viner, a fourth generation member of the Billington family, said: “It was an excellent year for EPC with growth in both retail and the quick service restaurant sector, with continued focus on cost mitigation to offset the effects of food inflation.”
Billington Foods, supplies the UK’s foodservice, retail and B2B markets with chilled and frozen sauces, soups, frozen pies and desserts. James said the division “continued its post-COVID-19 recovery”.
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Carrs Billington Agriculture supplies feed, fuel and farm machinery for the agricultural sector. The business “delivered an improved performance year-on-year” with an improvement in retail and fuel sales.
Criddle is an agricultural commodity trading business and James added: “The strong late season demand for animal feed, along with further expansion of third-party trade, delivered a strong result for the business.”