Managing Director, Retail Distributor, Farmer
CurrentFarming is my passion. From a very young age I would be out on the farm helping my Father and Grandfather, tending to the chickens and developing my knowledge of efficient poultry production.In 2012, I became Managing Director. I have now dramatically transformed the business to one which is “Growing & On-Going”! The business structure is unique; control of production, packaging and distribution. The primary objective was to secure retail contracts at the best possible price. Since 2012, I have driven the business forward developing a workforce, creating new brands, investing in a fleet of lorries, developing departments to manage and obtain retail accounts and investing in a new 33,000 square foot packing centre to bring the facilities for the supply of barn, free range, colony and organic eggs up to retail standards. This involved investment in Ovotrack full traceability systems and Moba egg grading technology, providing a fully integrated system for tracking, traceability and stock control. This packing centre complements facilities already in place to grade and pack the 600,000 bird colony egg production. Both future proofed packing centres are accredited to BRC Grade A standards, Lion Code of Practice, Freedom Foods, Organic Food Federation, Organic Farmers and Growers Association and Woodland Trust for applicable type of production method, while the mill and feed is UFAS-approved.The strategic decisions I made about restructuring the business to ensure growth has enabled Fairburn’s to develop a network of farming producers. Now ¾ million eggs a week are collected from valued producers. Fairburn’s now have 27 producers covering 12 areas across the country. In my capacity as Managing Director, with large retail contracts to manage and a growing network of producers to negotiate with, my time and resource is stretched. However on a daily basis I am out in the chicken sheds, caring for the flocks and making important bird welfare decisions.
