'Chicken King' Ranjit Boparan buys major stake in butchers' group for £5m

At the same time Jim McCarthy, former boss of Willenhall-based budget chain Poundland, is being recruited to become chairman of the company, Crawshaw Group, based in Rotherham.

Mr McCarthy led Poundland to major growth over his decade in charge before retiring in September. He succeeds Richard Rose who is retiring after Crawshaw’s AGM.

The butcher and food-to-go retailer, which is listed on the smaller AIM stock market, is also entering what it called a 'transformational' supply chain deal with Mr Boparan's 2 Sisters Food Group. Mr Boparan's company has an initial three-year deal to supply fresh meat and other products to Crawshaw.

The moves will also see Crawshaw accelerating its programme of opening new stores, with a focus on factory shop locations. It already has stores across the North and Midlands,including branches in Bilston, Cannock and West Bromwich.

Mr Boparan, is paying £5.1m for a 29.9 per cent stake in Crawshaw, with a warrant to acquire a further 20.1 per cent of the group. He is also set to become an advisor to the Crawshaw board with a particular focus on "unlocking the corporate social responsibility benefits from integrating the supply chains of the two businesses".

Mr Boparan, chief executive of 2 Sisters' parent company Boparan Holdings, said: “This is a great opportunity that complements our corporate social responsibility policy and our aim to reduce levels of quality food that would otherwise go to waste.

"Our businesses have a significant number of opportunities to work through together in the coming weeks and months.”

It is the latest in a string of private investments by Mr Boparan, including his acquisition of the struggling Bernard Matthews turkey business last year.

Noel Collett, chief executive of Crawshaw Group said: “This is a transformational partnership for the Crawshaw Group with a significant opportunity to offer a greater range and better availability to our customers. This new relationship provides a catalyst to our accelerated growth, both in sales and profitability.”

“We very much welcome the 50/50 equity split as it reflects the symbiotic nature of the partnership and aligns both our interests to achieve maximum shareholder value. The two-stage subscription including conditional warrants will allow the commercial benefit to be demonstrated as part of the process.”

Retiring chairman Richard Rose added: "Having worked on this partnership for a while and now seeing it being concluded, I feel that after 11 years as chairman it’s time for me to make way for someone new to take the business to a significantly higher level.”

Mr McCarthy, who is currently also chairman of the Wynnstay Group, said: “I am delighted to be joining Crawshaw Group at such a transformational time for the business. There are clearly significant opportunities for further growth, and together with the 2 Sisters Food Group, we have the ideal partner to create value for both businesses.”

Crawshaw has also unveiled its full year figures for the 52 weeks to January 29, showing turnover up 19% to £44.2m. It said its sales recovery had been due to a 'bounce back' in customer numbers. But losses widened to £1.4m from £300,000 the previous year as it opened another 11 stores giving it 49 in total.