Owner of Brierley Hill food processing site acquires turkey producer (From Dudley News)

Owner of Brierley Hill food processing site acquires turkey producer

9:20am Friday 4th May 2012 in Business Daily

FACCENDA Group, a UK food producer and owner of a food processing site at Brierley Hill, Dudley, has announced the acquisition of Cranberry Foods, the UK’s second biggest turkey producer.

The deal will see Faccenda become one of the UK’s largest food manufacturers, with a turnover of about £400 million.

Faccenda Group is a privately-owned family business that has supplied fresh chicken products for 50 years. It employs 2,000 people across the UK in hatcheries, farms, feed mills and processing plants across the UK. Of those, 275 workers are employed in Dudley.

Cranberry Food supplies the UK’s leading supermarkets, and food service sector. The company has 750 employees and a turnover of around £100 million.

Its factory sites include processing plants in Scropton, Derbyshire and Abergavenny, South Wales, while its farming operation stretches from Yorkshire to South Wales.

The deal complements Faccenda’s recent announcement of plans for internal investment at its Telford site, as well as further development at its Brackley factory.

It also creates a major cross-sector food business, with significant penetration in the UK’s growing retail and food service sector.

Andy Dawkins, managing director of Faccenda Group, said: “The acquisition of Cranberry is an exciting and important move for Faccenda and its employees, making us one of the UK’s largest food manufacturers.”

Cranberry Foods’ joint managing directors Andrew Lewins and David Horn will remain with the business in their existing positions until a smooth transition into the Faccenda group has taken place.

Mr Horn said: “Cranberry Foods has quickly become one of two major turkey producers in the UK since we founded the company in 2003.”

Mr Lewins said: “We are delighted to be joining the Faccenda family. They have been a UK success story for many years and share our commitment to British farming.

“Through this acquisition Cranberry gains the benefits of being part of a larger food business that seeks to build on its existing strengths and successes. It heralds a new era for Cranberry Foods and its employees.”

Faccenda’s Dudley site opened in the 1990s.