Poultry supplier looking to enlist more workers

An East Yorkshire poultry supplier is appealing for staff to help it keep up with demand for its chicken as the coronavirus crisis deepens.

Middleton-on-the-Wolds-based Soanes Poultry anticipates it will temporarily lose up to 50% of its team as a result of Covid-19 self-isolation and is recruiting in all areas of the business to ensure continuity of supply.

Managing director Nigel Upson said: “Independent retailers in our area have done an amazing job of providing fresh produce to our communities when the supermarkets couldn’t.

“We have taken the decision to keep production at full tilt to continue to feed Yorkshire through this network of butchers and farm shops, but we need help.

“At the peak of this crisis we anticipate that more than 50% of our staff will not be available for work so we need to boost numbers now to maintain throughput.

“We seek some specialist skills like accounts staff, fork lift drivers, lorry drivers and also need a strong contingent of people willing to do whatever it takes including warehouse staff, packing boxes and cleaning the factory overnight.”

Applicants should send an e mail to recruitment@soanespoultry.co.uk giving details of what work they normally do and what they are prepared to do.

They will have to agree to a screening for symptoms of illness before being allowed onto the company’s site.

Soanes Poultry is a family-owned business which has been rearing and preparing multi award winning chicken for 73 years.

It employs 120 people and sells its chicken to butchers and independent retailers in Yorkshire and to wholesalers nationwide.