Outstanding individuals, business excellence, and investment in the future were all celebrated at the National Egg & Poultry Awards 2024, held on 9 July in London, with hundreds of guests from every part of the industry.
Business leaders from all the major egg and poultry firms, representatives from industry bodies, and egg and poultry producers met in London for the awards ceremony, drinks reception and gala dinner to celebrate the achievements from across the spectrum of the sector.
Comedian Simon Evans hosted the ceremony, where a total of 16 awards were handed out, covering all aspects of the industry from poultry processing, through to innovation in schemes that support egg producers, and three awards specifically rewarding young people making a difference.
Peter Dean was awarded the lifetime achievement award, in recognition of his pivotal role in shaping the modern egg industry and creating Noble Foods, the UK’s biggest egg firm.
The National Egg & Poultry Awards was launched in 2018 as an annual event by Poultry Business magazine and last year the brand was acquired by Farmers Weekly owner Mark Allen Group.
Superb results from broiler growers, excellent productivity on layer units, and innovative sustainability initiatives were all recognised. The judging panel was made up of BPC chief executive Richard Griffiths, BPC chairman Martin Troop, turkey farmer Paul Kelly, BEIC chief executive Gary Ford, BEIC chairman Mark Williams, poultry farmer Charles Bourns, NFU chief poultry advisor Aimee Mahony, NFU poultry board chair James Mottershead, specialist in poultry veterinary medicine Kannan Ganapathy, poultry vet and Crowshall Veterinary Services founder Claire Knott, and Poultry Business editor Chloe Ryan.
The winners announced last night in London are:
Egg Packer of the Year
Winner – Skea Eggs
What started as a small family-run business has grown to become a leading supplier of eggs across Northern Ireland and mainland Great Britain. The recent acquisition of the business by Ready Egg Group has turbo charged the firm’s ambitions.
Highly commended Farmlay Eggs
Egg Producer of the Year
Winner – PA Arden & Son
Ivory Arden manages 128,000 free-range hens and is determined that the business will operate as sustainably as possible. She is currently looking to bring the rearing of her pullets in-house, in order to improve productivity further.
Breeding Unit of the Year
Winner – Lohmann Breeders UK
Lohmann Breeders UK is a pure line breeding unit, which has driven up performance and consistency in fertility of eggs over the past two years.
Hatchery of the Year
Winner – Boston Hatchery, Annyalla Chicks (UK)
Annyalla is an independent broiler hatchery operating a single-stage, high-welfare Hatchcare system. The Hatchcare concept is the first in the UK where the hatching chick is provided with feed and water, and minimal handling.
Pullet Rearer of the Year
Winner – LJ Fairburn & Son
Fairburns rears pullets in Lincolnshire on four bespoke rearing sites in which it has invested over £350,000 in the past year, ensuring it meets the latest BEIC and RSPCA requirements and boasts excellent biosecurity, including various types of multi-tier systems for the pullets to grow.
Highly commended Wheatcroft Poultry
Grower of the Year
Winner – Verity Harrison, Vantage Farm
Based on the family farm, Verity Harrison manages a broiler unit comprising six houses. She has achieved impressive European production efficiency factors of more than 450, and has a strong relationship with the farm’s processor.
Sustainable Farming Award
Winner – Menchine Farms
Gregory Cole runs Menchine Farms, which produces both broilers for 2 Sisters and free-range eggs for St Ewe. There are numerous sustainable enterprises on the farm, including biomass boilers, solar power that means the farm is off-grid, and a huge tree planting programme.
Highly commended Carter Farms
Trade Supplier of the Year
Winner – Roxby Farm Supplies
Roxby Farm Supplies was founded by vet Mark Howells and is a distributor of many major brands for the poultry industry. It also develops biosecurity plans for farm businesses.
Unit Manager of the Year
Winner – Edward ‘Ted’ Hololob, Noble Foods
Ted Hololob has worked at Greenbrook Farm for the past 50 years, rearing pullets for Noble Foods. Dedicated and full of enthusiasm after five decades, he is continuing to introduce new improvements to the site.
Young Farm Vet of the Year
Winner – Esme Chapman, St David’s Poultry Team
Esme Chapman has an impressive drive for learning and furthering her education and is the youngest vet to ever achieve a CertAVP in poultry. In her daily work, Chapman aids broiler clients in reducing viral challenge on farm to increase immunocompetence.
Young Farmer of the Year
Winner – Poppy Jones, LJ Fairburn & Son
Poppy Jones is national production assistant manager for LJ Fairburn & Sons. She is part of the team that helped launch an industry-first poultry bed-and-breakfast partnership going out to farms and liaising with producers.
Lifetime Achievement
Winner – Peter Dean, Noble Foods
In recognition of a lifetime of work building the modern egg industry and his role as the ‘Godfather’ to others in the industry.
Innovation of the Year
Winner – Chippindale Foods
Chippindale Foods has for several years worked to launch a carbon-neutral egg for Morrisons and has forged a pioneering partnership with the British Standards Institute to authenticate the entire farm-to-fork egg line with the industry’s inaugural carbon-neutral kite mark.
Young Processor of the Year
Winner – Mica Keeble, Heck Food
Mica Keeble began working for Heck when she was 24 on the packing line. Her eye for detail was quickly noticed and she soon progressed to become line leader and then operator, and now holds a senior role and conducts the company’s weekly management production meetings.
Processor of the Year
Winner – Moy Park
Established more than 80 years ago, Moy Park has grown to become one of Europe’s leading poultry producers, supplying branded and own-label chicken products. As well as state-of-the-art processing facilities, the company has worked hard to secure long-term contracts with retailers, providing security for the whole supply chain.
Poultry Business of the Year
Winner – Noble Foods
Noble Foods is the UK’s largest egg producer, with core operations include egg farming, processing and distribution. As well as robust infrastructure and state-of-the-art facilities, it is making an impressive foray into the added-value world with a new manufacturing site in Lincolnshire, expanding its consumer foods business beyond traditional shell egg.