Work had already begun on completely rebuilding the farm in Norfolk, with the first chicks scheduled to arrive in the state-of-the-art housing in November and the project completed in February 2011.

Euan Meldrum, marketing manager, explained: "The investment will provide the highest welfare and biosecurity standards for producing breeding stock for our distributors across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. We shall also be able to expand the farm's output by around 15 per cent to meet the increasing demand for Cobb chickens."

The project on the existing 2.5 hectare (six-acre) site includes six new breeding houses, new feed units, transfer buildings, egg store and administration facilities.