"We have been impressed with the high quality chicks and skilled staff at Fulletby over the past year," said Stephane Duthoit, CEO of Hubbard.

Duthoit added that Hubbard has built a UK farming operation, and given rising demand for both the company's Hubbard Flex and organic

breeds in the UK and abroad, it made sense for Hubbard to

consolidateits investment by adding a British hatchery to its

expanding network.

"We have invested a lot of time and effort into equipping one of the most modern Chickmaster hatcheries in Europe at Fulletby, but with our acquisition last year of the hatchery at Eye, it became necessary to find

an alternative use for the Lincolnshire hatchery," said Robert Haynes,

Director of Joice and Hill.

Haynes said that the move would also allow Joice and Hill to concentrate on development of its Eye hatchery into "the leading supplier of egg

layers in the UK".