[2024] UKUT 149 (LC)

The production of eggs for human consumption is of course heavily regulated, and a lot of land is needed both for disease control requirements and in order for eggs to be classed as free range; one shed housing 64,000 birds requires 79 acres or 32 hectares of “ranging land”. The practical consequence of this is that while Fridays would operate its egg production business from one site if that were possible, according to Mr Friday, that would require a site of over 400 acres and there is no suitable site of that size available. The business has therefore created a collection of sites in a ten-mile radius.

At Chequer Tree Farm itself, therefore, the arable land is used for barley and wheat, which is milled on site and fed to the hens at the other holdings; and eggs come from the other holdings to the three buildings to be packaged. So far as this appeal is concerned all that happens at Chequer Tree Farm is the growing of barley to feed the chickens on the other holdings, and the packaging of eggs at the three buildings. The arable production is carried out by three members of staff (two tractor drivers and a manager); they and their equipment are based at Tolehurst Farm. The equipment used includes tractors, trailers and a large combine harvester, and it is used to farm all the arable land occupied by Fridays.

Mr Friday’s evidence was that the other holdings are managed from Chequer Tree Farm; staff at the other locations feed the hens and manage the land and buildings, but they report to the Poultry Management Team at Chequer Tree Farm at a weekly meeting and all decisions about feeding are taken there; feeding is complex because feed is blended differently for each farm based on the age, health and productivity of the birds so there is considerable calculation and control undertaken at Chequer Tree Farm. Planning for the arrival of chickens at 1 day old and their removal for slaughter at the age of about 85 weeks (by which time the shells of their eggs are too thin for commercial use) is all done at Chequer Tree Farm. Mr Friday was cross-examined about management arrangements and confirmed that staff at the other farms are titled “managers” to reflect their skill and importance, but their role is to look after the chickens on a day-to-day basis and how they do so is determined by senior management at Chequer Tree Farm.

The production and packaging of eggs prior to sale is regulated by legislation and by the British Egg Industry Council’s “Lion Code of Practice”. Eggs have to be stamped at the producing farm before being taken to Chequer Tree Farm for packing; the procurement department at Chequer Tree Farm supplies the ink and materials for the stamping. Mr Friday was asked in cross-examination if the eggs are packed at source, and he explained that the eggs are stamped and put on to ‘keyes trays’ – large trays with egg-shaped dips to hold the eggs safely, many dozen on each tray – and then stacked on to wooden pallets and loaded on to a lorry to be brought to Chequer Tree Farm. There they are weighed, graded, stamped with their grade and date, and then the grade A eggs are packed in supermarket egg boxes, mostly for Asda and Lidl. Grade B eggs – misshapes for the most part - are picked out by the machines and packed for use for baking.

About 1.7 million eggs produced on Fridays’ Farms are processed in this way each week, but that is not enough to meet the supermarkets’ requirements. Fridays therefore also grades, packages and sells on about 1.4 million free range eggs each week from around 15 smaller independent farms who do not produce eggs on a big enough scale to do the packing themselves (and who of course cannot sell their eggs unless they are graded and packed in accordance with regulations and industry practice).