Paul Kelly is the Managing Director of Kelly Turkeys, although he prefers to be called a “turkey farmer”
Kelly Turkeys is the largest independent turkey hatchery in the UK supplying over 450 farmers throughout the country with specialist breeds of turkeys for the Christmas market. The company sells sell over 1.3 million turkey chicks (27% of the UK Christmas market) in June July and August.
The company’s flagship is the KellyBronze turkey which is the most awarded turkey in Britain winning the BBC good food awards and the first turkey to ever achieve 3 stars in the great taste awards
The Kelly Family started the bronze turkey adventure in 1983 by buying up the last remaining flocks of bronze turkeys growing them free range to maturity and then dry plucking them by hand to allow dry aging. Turkey at its best.
As far as they are aware they are the only turkey company in the world to have the complete production chain from pure line genetics through to retailing from the farmgate.
Formal qualifications in Business Administration and Poultry science
He worked in America for 1 year on a high level turkey breeding programme and came back into the small family business in 1984.
Paul has two Guinness World Records for the Fastest Turkey Plucker and the fastest turkey carver.
He is a Nuffield Scholar
Has won Farmers weekly poultry farmer of the year and the Rupert Chalmers Watson award for outstanding services to the industry.
He is a past council member of the National Farmers Union poultry board
A farm was purchased in Charlottesville Virginia in the US in 2015 and KellyBronze USA was launched. The company employs 87 people.
In 2012 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex. Paul is also current Chairman of the British Turkey Federation
Linkedin: Paul Kelly