The owner of a horse racing training yard in Fife says his business is thriving despite facing ever-rising costs.
Kinneston, in Leslie, has 50 horses on its books and is run by Nick Alexander.
Mr Alexander started training in 2002 and has since sent out more than 300 winners – including a record-breaking 35 last year.
But, like many other businesses across Tayside and Fife, the business has faced a number of challenges this year.
Mr Alexander said recruiting staff can be difficult at times.
However, he said his team has worked hard, adding there are opportunities to progress through the ranks.
Recently, the business won two top national awards, and Mr Alexander said those help to not only attract, but also retain staff.
One member of staff previously had a race named in her honour after scooping another award.
He said: “Staffing is always a challenge, but we manage.
“One of the reasons we go in for awards is that we want to stand out.
“We have a good structure within the business – people come in as trainees and become assistant barn managers and progress through the ranks.
“We always try to encourage staff to do some training every year to improve their own CV if nothing else.”
Among the other challenges faced by the business are rising costs.
Fife firm’s relief at drop in fuel prices
The team must transport horses all over the UK, and increased fuel prices earlier this year meant that could’ve caused problems for the business.
“Luckily that was during our quieter time,” Mr Alexander said.
“Fuel prices have come back down a bit – that is a big relief.”
He said the price of horse feed – of which the business goes through two-and-a-half tonnes every month – has also increased by 25%.
“We’ve got 50 horses eating eight kilograms a day so it mounts up pretty quickly.
“Our customers have been very supportive and we’re managing to pass some of those costs on.
“But you wouldn’t ever wanted to take that for granted.”
Meanwhile, Kinneston has produced nine winners so far this season after a record-breaking 35 winners in the 2021 season.
Mr Alexander thinks reaching those heights before the end of the jumps season in May is unlikely, but hopes to double their current number.
“We’d like to get over 20 winners this season, so we’ll see how close we get,” he said.
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