Grantham food producer Moy Park wins award for developing employees and creating 'work family' environment

A food producer was commended for its commitment to the development of its employees.

Moy Park was crowned winner of the Employer of the Year category at the Grantham Journal Business Awards 2021.

The meat producer is one of the largest employers in the town, with the award’s judge, Lesley Pashley chair of Grantham Business Club, commenting that Moy Parks’s 720 staff are “genuinely thought of as a work family”.

Moy Park, based at Gonerby Road, achieved a record-breaking safety milestone this year, with two million worked hours without a lost-time accident, an on the job accident that results in an employee being absent from the workplace for a minimum of one full day work day.

Steve Kerwood, HR business partner at Moy Park, discussed what the award meant to the business.

How did it feel to win the award after another difficult year?

We are humbled to have won this award and couldn’t be prouder of our key workers within and across Moy Park’s supply chain - they are a team of genuine food heroes.

Receiving the ‘Employer of the Year’ award is the recognition everyone on site deserved for going the extra mile. Returning to site with the award, and collectively celebrating with our colleagues, further strengthened morale and generated a positive buzz across all departments as we entered the busy Christmas period.

Why do you think your business stood out to the judges?

We entered the Grantham Journal Business Awards so we could give recognition to everyone at the facility for their hard work and enthusiasm, but to also highlight some of the amazing things we have achieved in the past year- from our excellent health and safety record to the efforts we put into our engagement and reward initiatives. Having the opportunity to share what we do at Moy Park with our local community in Grantham was also one of our main objectives.

Tell us a bit about what you do as a business?

Moy Park is a £1.5billion turnover, top 15 UK food business and a subsidiary of Pilgrim’s – one of the world’s largest protein producers – while at heart remaining a family farming, people-centred company. We supply branded and own label chicken products to retailers and foodservice providers throughout the UK, Ireland and continental Europe, while our headquarters are in Northern Ireland. The company employs over 10,000 people across facilities in the UK, Holland and France, working with over 800 poultry farmers across Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Moy Park has 35 million birds on the ground at any one time and now provides around 30% of the UK’s poultry production.

What changes have you made over the last year?

As is the case with all workplaces, we’ve adapted how we work right across the business. Meetings now regularly take place digitally, collaboration across sites is more effective and our meetings are much more cross-functional. Operationally, we have invested over £10 million in safety and supportive measures to protect our teams. Measures introduced include social distancing, staggering of break times, Perspex screens on the production line and scanning the temperature of those entering the site. The investment includes advanced safety measures which have been rolled out across facilities since late March 2020. Safety is a condition at Moy Park and a focus in this area has seen us achieve record safety milestones across our sites.

What are your plans for the coming year?

We will continue to invest in the main pillars of the business including our people. We have a number of activities around career development including new academies, and graduate programmes and apprenticeships with schools and universities. There is an amazing variety of rewarding career opportunities in our industry, and at Moy Park we have that available right here in Grantham. Our heritage and expertise is something we pride ourselves on. We have a fully integrated farm-to-fork supply chain which builds trust and integrity with our customers. We also have an industry-leading marketing, innovation and culinary team working closely together to identify consumer trends and develop new products.

This is an exciting time to be a part of Moy Park – one of the UK’s top 15 food companies, at the cutting edge of innovation, quality and sustainable growth.

How have your staff/team risen to the challenges?

The past two years in the food industry have been very challenging but also stimulating. Moy Park has successfully risen to these challenges because of our people, our conditions, and our values. It’s a great time for anyone looking for a career change or a move into the food industry to look at the opportunities available at Moy Park. We are very much a team and values orientated business.