British Poultry Council recognises the best
Top performers in the British poultry industry have been recognised at the annual British Poultry Council’s annual awards at the House of Commons, recognising both distinguished service and the potential for future excellence.
A special merit award was given to Prof Peter Biggs for his outstanding chairmanship of the Red Tractor Poultry Scheme’s technical advisory committee. The committee sets the scheme’s standards, ensuring they are practical and achievable while meeting the demands of consumers.
Three Distinguished Service Awards were given to:
* John Cessford, marketing manager for feed compounder BOCM Pauls, “for his outstanding commitment to leading the BPC Growers Committee for more than 20 years, and as the driving force behind the resurgence of the Egg and Poultry Industry Conference”.
* Stephen Macdonald of Cargill Meats Europe, “for the huge contribution he has made to the knowledge and understanding of the hatching environment and process, and to the continuing development and dissemination of good hatchery practice”.
* Ted Wright, formerly of Bernard Matthews, “for his leadership of the sector, both as BPC chairman – during which time he helped create the national exotic disease contingency plan in the face of avian influenza – and as chairman of the Assured Food Standards poultry board”.
“As the industry’s trade association we want to show our appreciation to those people who spend their working lives in the poultry sector and go above and beyond the usual call of duty,” said current BPC chairman John Reed. “We also award scholarships to acknowledge the contribution of the next generation; those who will drive the industry forward in the long term.”
This year the BPC scholarships went to:
* Jessica Hopkins from the Scottish Agricultural College for her PhD work on the humane culling of poultry.
* Angel Ramirez from Harper Adams University College for his PhD on the carbon footprint of rendered products, focusing on the poultry industry.
“At this time when the future of food production is under intense scrutiny, the UK poultry industry is ready to stand up and be counted as an essential part of the solution,” said Mr Reed. “In feeding the nation, we are always looking to improve and our people are the foundation for that.”
Speaking as the host for the event, Anne McIntosh MP noted the poultry industry’s contribution to UK food security and praised the continued positive industry input to the cross-party Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee, of which she is the chairwoman.