Samworth named Processor of the Year at MTJ Awards

Chief executive Brian Stein said he was "very pleased" to win the award. "After a difficult few years for the sector, things are picking up and we saw some growth last year. We have a wonderful workforce, and our business is really something special. It's great to be recognised for this.”

Other winners on the night included: ABP's Daniel Scott, who was named Young Processor of the Year; Elmgrove Foods, which took the title of Export Intiative of the Year; and Jaspers, which took home the title of Environmental Initiative of the Year.

The awards, which are organised by Meat Trades Journal, are aimed at recognising and rewarding some of the best companies and projects across the meat and poultry processing sector.

Other winners on the night included Linden Foods, which took the award for Supply Chain Initiative of the Year for its work on rose veal, and Robin Rolls from Randall Parker, who was named Plant Manager of the Year.

Judges also awarded a special award to J W Mettrick & Son, describing it as a prime example of a small processing operation which could put many larger operators to shame.

Ed Bedington, editor of MTJ, said: "The awards were a great success and I'm delighted to be able to recognise some of the stars of the processing sector. This is a section of the industry which is often overlooked by most awards, with the emphasis on products and retail. We thought it was about time we took the opportunity to highlight and reward some of the hard work that goes on there.

"We had some superb entries and all our finalists are great examples to the rest of the trade. It was a difficult task to pick out our winners, but I'd like to congratulate them all on their success."