As many as 60 new jobs will be created with the launch of a new company, Pilgrim’s Shared Services Ltd, which has been designed to provide cross-functional support to Pilgrim’s Pride’s European companies Moy Park, Pilgrim’s UK and Pilgrim’s Food Masters.
Pilgrim’s Shared Services will consolidate existing U.K.-based transactional and group functions into a single business unit under the leadership of an executive leadership team, drawn from U.K. and U.S.-based Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation businesses.
The three existing food business have a combined workforce of over 20,000 people across 35 locations in the U.K. and Europe.
Kirsty Wilkins, HR & performance director, in a press release, said, “These new roles will be across functional areas including finance, IT, procurement, legal, treasury and audit to support the future growth and development of our businesses.
“Pilgrim’s Shared Services Ltd will provide career opportunities for our current team members as well as providing up to 60 additional opportunities across our sites in Craigavon, Northern Ireland and Warwick in England.
“This is an exciting step for our businesses as they draw closer together in pursuit of our vision to become the best.”
Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, Pilgrim’s Pride expanded into Europe through acquisitions. That growth began in 2017, when the company acquired Moy Park from JBS. Two years later, Pilgrim’s Pride completed the acquisition of U.K. meat company Tulip Limited from Danish Crown. Then, in 2021, Pilgrim’s Pride completed the acquisition of Kerry Consumer Foods’ Meat and Meals business.
The Tulip operations are now known as Pilgrim’s UK, while the Kerry operations are now Pilgrim’s Food Masters.
Pilgrim’s Pride, according to the WATTPoultry.com Top Companies Database, is the second largest poultry producer in the United States, while Moy Park is the second largest poultry producer in the United Kingdom. Brazil-based JBS is the majority shareholder of Pilgrim’s Pride.
