Family-run Banham Poultry will see its turnover top £85 million this year after the sale of its 'non-core' composting operations, according to EDP.

Directors of Attleborough-based Banham have opted to focus on the group's chicken rearing and selling operations in future – and revealed that turnover in the financial year to September will outstrip the £70.1 million in the last accounts the company filed in 2007.

This week, the group confirmed the sale of Banham Compost to TEG, the environmental and waste reprocessing group based in Chorley, Lancashire, for about £1.9 million.

The deal will see TEG – which had supplied the equipment used by Banham's composting plant at Carleton Rode – also take on a £1.2 million asset finance facility.

The TEG deal also follows the sale of the Clay Hall Farm at Lenwade to entrepreneur, Graham Dacre, after a long-running row with residents about planning for a rendering plant on the site.

The rendering equipment on the farm was sold to Yorkshire-based group, J.G. Pears.

Non-executive director Barry Skipper told EDP: "We concluded early on that we should try to get the business back to its core – rearing and selling chickens – and the two non-core businesses, Clay Hall Farm and Carleton Rode, both under Banham Compost's umbrella, were probably best in the hands of someone else.

"We've now sold the share capital of Banham Compost to TEG Environmental. They are the biggest people in waste and composting. It is a national firm, AIM-listed and growing fast. They have the expertise and it's their kit we have in our Carleton Rode facility."

Mr Skipper was appointed a director last summer along with new chief executive, Martyn Bromley, after a boardroom shake-up by Banham owner and Norwich City Football Club director, Michael Foulger.

"The chicken market is in good shape at present. When people tighten their belts, they buy more chicken. "It's just what happens – it's a good, cheap form of protein," Mr Skipper added.

Banham Poultry employs about 600 people, according to EDP.