NEWS RELEASE – Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board

25 November 2013

MANAGEMENT REORGANISATION AT MLCSL

Meat and Livestock Commercial Services Ltd (MLCSL), the commercially trading wholly-owned subsidiary of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), will be managed on a regional cost-basis through the existing team of regional and quality managers following the departure of Managing Director Nick Kirby earlier this month.

MLCSL Chairman and AHDB Chief Executive, Tom Taylor said “This business is all about delivering excellent service along with good customer relationship management. The MLCSL Board has concluded that on an interim basis this can best be delivered by empowering our experienced regional and quality management team.

“The day-to-day strategic direction for the business will come direct from the MLCSL Board over the next few months while the Board assesses the nature of operational management required going forward.”.

The independent carcase classification service provided by MLCSL accounts for 90% of total British slaughtering of cattle, 82% of pigs and 69% of sheep. It also delivers training events at abattoirs and auction markets on behalf of the EBLEX ‘Better Returns Programme’ in England and for the HCC programme in Wales, helping farmers to achieve the best possible sale price for their livestock and processors to get optimum quality meat.

The MLCSL team also offers an auditable stun process for abattoirs (a legal requirement from 2013), CCTV systems to help them monitor animal welfare, humane slaughter and food hygiene and it also provides a web-enabled data capture system for abattoir refrigeration.

Note to editors:

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) is an evidence-based levy board with a pivotal role to make the industry sectors it supports more competitive and sustainable. It is funded by farmers, growers and others in the supply chain through statutory levies.

Media enquiries contact Guy Attenborough on 024 7647 8675 or