A Long Tradition of Progress

When John Penny & Sons first opened its doors for business in the mid 1800s as a family farm, Charles Dickens was hard at work on his classic novel Bleak House and Bax & Company in London’s Regent Street were developing a new raincoat from a chemically treated wool fibre, Aquascutum.

The world has changed spectacularly over the last 160 years, of course, but one thing has remained exactly the same – John Penny & Sons’ commitment to supplying only top quality, ethically farmed cattle for its discerning customer base.

Business boomed for the fledgling company during the agricultural and industrial revolutions, with the Penny family acquiring the wherewithal to purchase Low Green Farm in 1892, where it is still based today. It wasn’t until after the Second World War, however, that the opportunity arose to sell meat in addition to raising stock, and this is when the business really began to take off.

Still a family concern today, John Penny & Sons is now one of the U.K.’s most respected and professional farming, butchery and meat wholesale companies, carrying out every part of the operation on-site. With zero miles from farm to factory, it supplies beef, lamb and pork to butcher shops and farm shops the length and breadth of the UK, using its own fleet of modern refrigerated vehicles.

Employing 75 highly skilled members of staff and with 250 acres of land – part of it housing what is possibly the largest cattle shed in Europe – John Penny & Sons prides itself on being an innovative, forward-thinking company, underlined by the recent major rebranding the business has gone through. What is more, with high-profile alliances in place and a number of exciting marketing initiatives, the company stands out in what is an intensely competitive industry. In actual fact, its constant modernisation is quite unusual in this sector, with John Penny & Sons committed to ongoing investment in all of the latest equipment and technology on the farm and in the factory in order to retain its market leading position.

Furthermore, the company has recently joined forces with ‘Britain’s Best Dish 2010’ winner, celebrity chef Jonathon Davies. In a brand new campaign to increase awareness of quality meat through butchers shops on every good high street, ‘Quest for Best: The Meat Crusade’ is seeking to throw light on the processes involved in the meat trade and, in doing so, will offer a greater understanding of the industry to the consumer. This campaign will include a fantastic new range of recipes created by Jonathon Davies for people to try in their own homes with meat purchased at their local butchers. Using cost-effective cuts of meat and a contemporary balance of flavours, the campaign highlights the relationship between quality and taste, and further information can be found via the dedicated Facebook page.

With such an imaginative and entrepreneurial approach to business, it will come as no surprise to discover that John Penny & Sons is riding out the infamous recession rather well. In actual fact, the ‘economic collapse’ hasn’t really affected it, since the demand for quality butchers meat has remained strong. As a matter of fact, the company is expanding its facilities all the time to keep up with ever-growing demand: this is not growth for growth’s sake and John Penny & Sons has no intention of ‘outgrowing’ its reputation for the friendly, personal touch it has become famous for.

As you would expect, John Penny & Sons enjoys a significant degree of ongoing repeat business, with recommendation from happy customers helping to grow its market share. In addition, its various targeted sales drives, plus its website (www.peopleintheknow.com) and recently mentioned Facebook page dictate that the company is always putting its name in front of it customers; it can even be followed on Twitter. There’s no sitting back and resting on its laurels at John Penny & Sons; at the present time the company is expanding both its chiller facilities and the cattle shed, which will create a considerable amount of extra space. This is just one more stage in its quest to become a household name across the UK, distributing its meat to an ever-growing customer base up and down the country.

The company is launching a recipe book in the coming months too, with a new signature range of recipes created by Jonathon Davies. The book will go on sale to the general public in shops selling John Penny meat, offering a delicious way to cook with the best meat you can buy. Well, when you share your early years with the creative intellect of Charles Dickens, some of that literary genius just has to rub off!

To find out more, please visit www.johnpenny.co.uk.