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An egg farm which has joined forces with similar businesses across the North East following changes in legislation has received funding to help it cope with the extra demand.
Lintz Hall Farm, in Burnopfield, bordering Newcastle upon Tyne and County Durham, has been awarded £457,000 from One North East’s Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) to expand and modernise its egg processing, grading and packing facilities.
As a direct result six new jobs will be created and eight businesses will benefit through a collaborative agreement.
At the last British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) subscriber meeting it was agreed that there will be no Lion accredited birds in conventional cages from January 1 2012, so retailers know that Lion eggs will be produced in a colony system.
The decision left a number of egg production businesses in difficult positions as they were unable to afford investment into the new colony systems. Lintz Hall Farm has consequently supported a number of such smaller egg producers in the region by taking in their egg production, grading, processing and packing functions and employing the business owners and staff within Lintz Hall.
In order to meet this extra demand, Lintz Hall Farm will use the RDPE funding to take forward a development project which will include a new packing centre fed by automated egg collection from the new colony buildings, which is instrumental in both quality and cost control.
Adrian Sherwood, RDPE Manager at One North East, said: “This project will secure Lintz Hall Farm as a major independent producer in the region while also allowing for further growth.
“Lintz Hall Farm clearly sees the need for collaborative working and is offering support to other local producers to ensure egg production in the North East continues, retaining a strong egg supply chain following the changes in legislation while also retaining valuable skills in the region that would otherwise be lost.
“The new facilities will help the business create and secure employment, keep egg production and processing local and also minimise food miles used in egg production and processing in the North East.”
Lintz Hall Farm was established in 1952 by George Tulip (senior) and has since remained with the Tulip family, first being taken over by George Tulip - son of the founder and now being run by his two sons, Richard and Stephen.
It is the largest egg producer within the region marketing 38.6m eggs across the North East each year. This equates to approximately 8% of the region’s consumption which is anticipated to rise to 13% by the end of next year.
Richard Tulip, Manager of Lintz Hall Farm, said: “After developing collaborative agreements with smaller producers to allow them to continue with existing customer bases and consequently expanding our business base, it presented us with a challenge and opportunity to develop our business.
“The RDPE funding is a great boost to our £3.5m investment plan for the next two years; and is in addition to the £2.5m already invested over the last four years on our free range sector. We are very proud of what we do at Lintz Hall Farm having gone from strength to strength over 57 years of trading and we think it’s imperative to invest for a sound future while contributing to a thriving food production and distribution business in the North East.”
The Rural Development Programme for England 2007-2013 is jointly funded by Defra and the European Union, with the aim of delivering targeted support to rural businesses and communities. It is managed in North East England by One North East, Natural England and the Forestry Commission.
The RDPE investment being managed by One North East combines larger projects to help many businesses in different sectors of the rural economy - including bioenergy and land-based skills, and projects adding value to agricultural and forestry products - with smaller investments to help individual businesses to start-up, grow or diversify, and support to develop more sustainable rural communities.
RDPE Business Support is part of Solutions for Business, the Government’s package of publicly funded support products offering help to companies to start, grow and succeed. Solutions for Business makes it easier for businesses to get the advice and assistance that they need.
For further information on the full package of support, visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/northeast or Tel: 0845 600 9006. For more information on RDPE in North East England, visit: www.rdpenortheast.co.ukFor more information on RDPE, visit: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rurdev/index_en.htm or http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/rdpe/index.htm
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For more information, contact Alison Laggan (press office) on 0191 229 6613, mobile 07766 424400 or email alison.laggan@onenortheast.co.uk
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