The owner and chief executive of a UK chicken empire is stepping into a new role at the company.

Ranjit Singh Boparan, known as the ‘chicken king’, has been made president of Boparan Holdings Ltd (BHL), the parent company of 2 Sisters Food Group. He owns Norfolk and Suffolk-based turkey giant Bernard Matthews separately through another company, Boparan Private Office.

Mr Boparan spent 25 years building the business, which has plants across the UK, including at Flixton, near Bungay, Thetford and Witham. “I am fully committed to building a better, more transparent business, modernising our company and simplifying our operations,” he said. “I want to take a broader industry leadership role and concentrate more on the issues and challenges that affect not only our business, but also the food sector in general such as Brexit, social responsibility and sustainability.”

Charles Allen, chairman of BHL, said: “Ranjit has spent 25 years of his life building a world class food business.

“He has been a catalyst for change within the food industry, by challenging the norm and providing our customers and consumers with great service, great quality food, and great prices.

“In his new role, he will be playing to his strengths, looking at new opportunities and reducing debt that will help take the business to new levels of success.”

The company is now recruiting a new chief executive for 2 Sisters Food Group, and is looking at external and internal candidates.

Chief operating officer Martyn Fletcher will be responsible for the operations of the business until a formal appointment has been made.

Mr Boparan said: “These changes are the right ones to make at a very important stage in our business’s history and they help secure strong foundations for future development and growth. These are further major transformative steps in a journey to build a better business with a world-class leadership team.”