Jim Hunnable, who died unexpectedly on October 22, at his home in Braintree, Essex, spent nearly 60 years in the broiler industry and was known to a huge network in the UK and the rest of the world.
He was born in May 1947 in Braintree and started his career in the poultry business at the age of 15 in 1962 as a trainee at Cobb in the UK and worked his way up from being a broiler breeder fieldsman, area service manager, technical service manager and general manager to managing director of Cobb Breeding Company.
After the closure of Cobb’s European R&D operation in 2001, Jim was appointed as non-executive director at Poultry First and Q-International and remained a non-executive director with LA Systems.
In 2003 he joined Hubbard to support it developing the business in the UK, Ireland and in overseas markets like South Africa, Zimbabwe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
Over the years Jim has been a member of several committees in the UK, including EPIC, and played an active role in the sponsorship of the Nuffield Scholarship.
He had an unbelievable large network in the industry in the UK and the rest of the world through which Jim has been able to bring people together and help them in their business. Jim has been a mentor to many people who currently are in key positions in the industry and has motivated a lot of young people to join the business.
Jim was in great form when he attended the National Egg & Poultry Awards in London on Tuesday, October 19. His colleagues said he was extremely pleased to finally meet the people in the poultry industry in real life after such a long period of COVID lockdown.
He was a family man who greatly missed his wife Ruth, who died in 2017. Hubbard colleagues sent their condolences to his daughters Suzie and Victoria, his son Stuart and their families including his grandchildren and to the rest of his family.
