Moy Park chief in line for top Grocer trophy

Chief executive of poultry processor Moy Park, Northern Ireland's biggest company and the only business with a turnover in excess of £1 billion, Janet McCollum has been shortlisted for the prestigious Grocer Cup.

The cup is presented to the UK business person that Grocer readers in particular believe is showing exceptional leadership.

Mrs McCollum is among 10 business leaders listed by the magazine for the unique trophy. The others include Matthew Barnes, chief executive of Aldi UK, Roger Whiteside, chief executive of Gregg's, Patrick Coveney, chief executive of Greencore and Alison Brittain, chief executive of Whitbread.

The Moy Park chief is chosen because of her leadership during a particularly challenging time for the business, which is headquartered at Craigavon in county Armagh and employs around 13,000 at plants in Britain and Europe. It employs 5,000 in Northern Ireland. Moy Park, a profitable business, is being sold by JBS, its Brazilian owner, to reduce the group's debts.

The influential magazine says Moy Park has flourished against this challenging background which has included serious problems of the beef operations of JBS in Brazil.

The magazine says: "That Moy Park has kept itself insulated from the problems is testament to the exceptional leadership of McCollum.

"Under McCollum's experienced leadership the poultry business has not only survived the well documented crises of its beleaguered owner but flourished."

The magazine points to the company's strong growth in pre-tax profits - up 334 percent in 2016 and a 6.6 percent rise in revenue in the first quarter of this year - all against a background of Brexit.

Moy Park operates across several countries and began life as a modest farming company in 1943 in Moygashel, county Tyrone. It has interests in many aspects of farming especially poultry rearing, processing and marketing.