Pictured: Rob Mercer and Paul Brough
A pig farming business in Staffordshire has expanded with a
£600,000 loan from Barclays Corporate.
Burton-based Packington Pork has extended their acreage in order
to meet growing demand for their products. The third and fourth
generation farming business is managed by father and son Roger and
Rob Mercer, who supply free range pork to over 100 butchers shops
around the country.
Son Rob, who studied agriculture at Newcastle University, came
into the business in 2003. He had spent many years studying the
welfare of pigs and was keen to ensure that his family's business
supplied a high quality product from a farm that could boast the
highest level of welfare standards.
This funding will enable the business to expand its sales of
pigs by 400 a week taking the company's sales to 1500 pigs a
week.
Owner Rob Mercer commenting on the new funding said: "I am
pleased that Barclays Corporate has recognised our ambitious growth
plans and supported us with the funding to allow us to grow. The
volatility in the markets makes it's a difficult sector to operate
in and I constantly monitor food prices to ensure that we can
operate on decent margins.
Paul Brough, Barclays Agricultural Banking Director said:
"Mercer Farms is a fantastic example of a farming business that
produces a high quality product which is well received by
consumers. Its environmental and animal welfare credentials are
second to none which is extremely important in today's market where
consumers are becoming increasingly more aware of businesses
practices."
As well as high standards of animal welfare, the business also
operates a 300-acre environmental scheme which involves flooding
meadows, the planting of various species of plants and flowers and
a 20-acre lapwing reserve.
The company boasts a number of awards in recent years including
Pig Farmer of the Year at the Pig and Poultry Marketing Awards and
in 2010 they were runners up in the Marks and Spencer Sustainable
Food Award.