Banham Poultry: 1,000 Attleborough jobs secured by sale

Banham Poultry has been in business since 1965 and is based in Attleborough

The future of 1,000 staff at Banham Poultry in Norfolk has been secured with its sale to Chesterfield Poultry.

The Attleborough-based firm, where two workers died on Thursday, announced earlier this week it was up for sale.

Nadeem Iqbal, joint director Chesterfield Poultry, told the BBC he saw a bright future for the company.

"All the jobs are secure. It's no good having a factory if we have not got a workforce," he said. "We see Banham Poultry as a growing business."

He added: "There are many years of experience in the workforce and we want the message to go out that we want to keep the workers."

The Derbyshire-based firm is led by brothers Mohammed Fayez Ahmed and Nadeem Iqbal, whose father and two uncles established a grocery business in 1972 before moving into poultry in 1999

The factory remains cordoned off after two subcontractors, aged in their 30s and 40s, were found dead on Thursday.

The men - whose deaths may be linked to a suspected gas leak - were found dead near to the Station Road factory at 01:10 BST. They were from a pest control company.

Norfolk Police and the Health and Safety Executive are investigating.

• Men die in suspected gas leak at Banham Poultry

Chesterfield Poultry beat a rival bid from turkey producer Bernard Matthews to take over the plant.

The Derbyshire-based firm is led by brothers Mohammed Fayez Ahmed and Nadeem Iqbal, whose father and two uncles established a grocery business in 1972 before moving into poultry in 1999.

The news of the jobs being secured was welcomed by Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman, who tweeted it was a "huge relief for all those who work at the plant and in the supply chain".

The company has been based at Attleborough since 1965 and is one of the area's biggest employers.

Chief executive Martyn Bromley said earlier trade had "not been good for the last two or three months" but he hoped to find a buyer who could operate the family-run firm "more efficiently".