Two to go at 2 Sisters

THE DRIVE for greater efficiency has claimed two more casualties among the UK’s long-established poultry processors.

One is Devon Crest at Tiverton, and the other is East Markham in Nottinghamshire. Both belong to the 2 Sisters Food Group, and were formerly part of Hillsdown Holdings.

Ironically, business is buoyant and growing for the group, says chief executive Ranjit Singh, but neither plant was able to fit in with longer-term strategy.

Production is being transferred to alternative 2 Sisters Group locations where there have been significant programmes of investment recently.

“The future of our business is in large, increasingly efficient and technologically advanced locations that will allow us to deliver for our customers,” Mr Singh told Poultry World.

 “To pursue our operational strategy, we have looked at all our locations in the UK to see if they can expand to meet the ever increasing demand.”

Neither of the two affected sites was suitable for expansion, he explained, with East Markham in particular suffering severe constraints in terms of proximity to neighbours.

Both sites were involved with primary processing, with Tiverton working for other 2 Sisters group sites, and East Markham dealing with large bird packing for a major retail customer.

Taking an upbeat view, Mr Singh said: “The 2 Sisters business goes from strength to strength. Demand for chicken continues to grow, and our annual turnover (in excess of £300m) is increasing. 

“But we do not believe in sitting on our laurels. Our aim is to deliver the product that our customers want, to the timescales that they want.”

The group was now predominantly a manufacturer for private labels, supported by its own portfolio of key brands including Buxted and Hermanns.

Charles Bourns, NFU poultry board chairman, described the two closures as “inevitable, logical and sad – particularly to those of us who have seen Devon Crest develop and grow over the years since it started as Tiverton Poultry.” 

Although it was very sad for the 130 people who had lost jobs at the plant, there was better news for the chicken growers.

“Their birds will still be processed in another part of the country,” he reported.

Processing capacity in the south-west now resides with Lloyd Maunder, plus a number of small plants serving the niche markets.