Beef giant continues Shropshire investment

The move comes as the company continues to work with some of the country's largest retailers, and the company is working with Amazon in its attempt to roll-out a fresh food delivery service.

The Irish company, which operates abattoirs mainly focused on the beef industry in Shrewsbury and Ellesmere, has acquired Bromstead Farm near Newport, and will work with Harper Adams University on production techniques. The site had been on the market for about £4.5 million.

It will now be used to attempt to work on ABP's genetics and research and development programmes, potentially speeding up the growth of animals without the need for hormones.

"We are partnering with a lot of external parties, helping with out programmes at present," said Tom Kirwen, ABP's chief executive in the UK, where the company derives about £1.2 billion of its total 2.5 billion euro (£2.12bn) turnover.

"The data we are gathering is phenomenal, and it's about putting that to best use, to make us better.

"We now have a research farm near Harper Adams, and we have spent some time getting the soils to where we need them to be, and will be starting trials in the middle of this year. It enables us to fast track out genetic programme, and it will employ a whole raft of environmental elements."

The company has invested heavily in Shropshire in recent years, spending £30 million on an overhaul of its Hordley abattoir near Ellesmere.

It is now set to invest a similar amount on its operation in Shrewsbury, which would see it extended and add about 300 more staff. to the 700-plus already working there.

The company is awaiting planning permission to begin work on that site, and expects the build process to take about two years.

It is also pioneering the use of visual imaging analysis for grading beef, and that will be incorporated into the research on its R&D farm near Newport.

It uses digital systems to assess cattle consistently and accurately. About 2,500 farmers use the company's services in the area, and it takes the majority of its meat from within 50 miles of its abattoirs.

The company supplies for a number of major supermarkets, but has recently added another big business to the collection of household names which derive source meat from its UK operations, which are centred on Shropshire but include 15 sites.

Amazon has been looking at how it could launch a fresh food operation, and ABP has been involved in establishing how that might come about.

Mr Kirwen added: "We have recently been very active with Amazon, with their recent activity in central London.

"It's a hugely exciting initiative for Amazon, and we will see where that goes. The change in the mix of that business has been amazing."

In total ABP employs 10,000 people worldwide, with other divisions making pet food and converting cooking oil and fat for use in vehicles.