New supply agreements with major supermarket chains to provide cooked chicken from its site at Great Witchingham, Suffolk, will create an extra 400 jobs from the site.
The site has already received substantial investment since it was bought by Boparan Private Office in 2016, with “further investments planned at its Holton site in the next few years”.
The business is currently recruiting for non-seasonal roles, which range from factory management to supervisors, skilled operatives and process workers.
The Bernard Matthews HR and recruitment teams will be working with a number of organisations to fill the vacancies, including local job centres.
Chris Just, managing director of Bernard Matthews, said: “This is an exciting development for the business and demonstrates that Bernard Matthews has turned the corner. What’s great is that we have the ability to expand our capabilities and offer a cooked poultry product which is in such great demand.
“It is likely, because of the scale of this new opportunity, that we’re going to have to be innovative in the way we work and extend operations so we can fulfil orders.
“We’re delighted that the company has this opportunity and we can accordingly invest in the local and regional economy by providing new jobs and bringing about the associated opportunities that come with it from a supply chain and supplier perspective.”
The business appointed Chris Just as managing director in February. He previously held roles at Transfood, Parkham Food Group and Browns Food Group.