About Us

P. D. Hook is a family owned business founded in the 1950s on the existing hatchery site at Cote in Oxfordshire. It has grown to become the largest independent hatchery company in the UK and a major player in the UK poultry market.  In this region, we operate locations at Acle, Gorleston and Stanton.

We currently produce poultry across the full spectrum including Organic, Free Range, Freedom Foods, Oakham and Red Tractor. We are committed to ongoing investment in our production facilities. This will ensure we have an efficient farming base to meet the standards required by the retail sector and consumers.

We operate a fully integrated business supply chain in partnership with the world’s leading breeding and feed companies, Aviagen, Cobb, Hubbard, ABN and 2Agriculture. This enables us to produce, manage and control the process to the highest possible standards, involving each stage of the production process from rearing through to growing.

How we work, our aims and expertise

We are an integrated agricultural business with rearing, breeding, hatching and growing operations throughout the UK. We are capable of producing 9 million day old chicks and growing 6 million chickens a week from our regional sites in Oxfordshire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, East Anglia, Devon, Scotland and Wales.  We currently produce chickens across the full spectrum of growing programs including Standard, Freedom Foods, Oakham, Free Range and Organic. 

Our mission statement is “to remain a major supplier of agricultural solutions to the UK Poultry Industry and Retail Sector, providing our Customers with best cost, quality solutions that add value to their business while fulfilling the expectations of all our stakeholders”. 

Our skilled staff and fully equipped hatcheries ensure our customers receive chicks that are of the highest standard. With a quality assurance program utilising all available modern techniques and with a wealth of experience and expertise, P.D. Hook is well placed for the future.

We take an active role in improving bird welfare standards across our hatcheries and farms and are committed to ensuring the highest standards of bird health and welfare by working closely with Universities, Government Agencies, RSPCA, Welfare Organisations, Veterinarians and customers to continually monitor key health and welfare outcomes. We fully endorse the Five Freedoms proposed by the Farm Animal Welfare Council.  Our employees are trained to ensure we maintain the highest standards of bio-security and flock health enabling us to produce birds to the highest standards of food safety and quality. All our farms and hatcheries are subject to Independent audits to ensure we are always meeting our customer expectations and our poultry is fully traceable from flock to hatchery and the breeder farm where the eggs came from.

Careers

We are dedicated to developing the talents of young people within the Poultry Industry. 

We offer Apprenticeship Schemes for new entrants, which incorporate a formal training programme and qualification to ensure we have the right skilled people for now and the future.  We continue to train and develop people within the business with regular training in bio security, bird welfare and health and safety.  P.D. Hook is committed to investing in people in order to drive the Poultry Industry forward.

Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships are available in all aspects of Poultry Production. You will be able to participate in Level 2 Poultry Production at the start of your Career and advance onto Level 3 for Farm and Hatchery Management posts. Higher Level qualifications learning Leadership Skills or Personal Development are also available as you continue your career thorough the Company.

In-House training for our Employees plays an essential part in our success. Training not only equips you with the knowledge and skills required to carry out tasks efficiently and improve productivity, it helps to enhance your work satisfaction.

Gain relevant real world experiences with a mix of academic learning and hands-on work.

Work Experience 

Work Experience can be offered to suit you.

Do you wish to have a taster day with us?

Would you like to gain experience for a few weeks, one day a week – might even form part of your studies?

Here at P.D. Hook we pride ourselves on supporting Students to introduce you to a future Career and this is the best way to gain a real sense of the Poultry industry.

Placements

We offer a number of different ways in which to experience Placements with us. Whether it is during your holidays or a Sandwich placement during your University or College course we will support your individual needs which in turn supports your study and your advancement within our Company.

Poultry Passport

You will be required to enrol onto the Poultry Passport training scheme after your successful probationary period.

The British Poultry Training Scheme was developed to give consistent levels of training for each job role across the UK Poultry Industry with an industry wide training recording system. Each job role has a minimum training requirement which is defined on each member’s Poultry Passport. As training is completed it is recorded on your Poultry Passport, identifying completed training and where further training is required.

Find out more

Use the links provided to our website for full details of our business and vacancies, and follow us here on icanbea... for the latest news and opportunities.