AN ERA has ended at one of East Anglia's biggest and best-known businesses with Bernard Matthews having stepped back from the day-to-day running of the turkey empire he created 60 years ago.

AN ERA has ended at one of East Anglia's biggest and best-known businesses with Bernard Matthews having stepped back from the day-to-day running of the turkey empire he created 60 years ago.

Mr Matthews retired as chairman of the company's main board yesterday, his 80th birthday putting the daily decisions about the future of the firm in the hands of his fellow directors.

But he will continue to play a role in the business he built from scratch in the 1950s and which became a �300million-plus giant of the food industry, employing more than 2,000 people in East Anglia alone.

Mr Matthews will become chairman of a new “supervisory” board that will meet four times a year to represent his family's interests.

Former Anglia Television and Greene King chairman David McCall, who has been a non-executive director of the turkey firm since 1996, will take Mr Matthews' place at the head of the main board.

Noel Bartram, Bernard Matthews Group chief executive, said: “Bernard Matthews has been an iconic businessman in the county for over 50 years and to continue to be actively involved in the business at 80 is a testament to his character and approach to life.

“From simple beginnings, with an investment of just �2.50, Mr Matthews has been responsible for taking the business from a few turkey eggs and a paraffin heater to a successful and thriving national brand.

“He is the man who effectively put turkey on the plates of everyday working families and in so doing he not only became one of the largest employers in rural East Anglia but has also supported the local farming community through the purchase of hundreds of tonnes of wheat to feed the turkeys.”

Mr Bartram added: “However, Mr Matthews has scaled back his day-to-day involvement in the business for a number of years now.

“Given that the business recently returned to profit with a clear strategy in place for growth, he felt that his 80th birthday was an appropriate time for him to step back as chairman of the holdings (main) board.

“It will come as no surprise, however, that Mr Matthews is not entirely retiring from the business.

“Instead, he is taking on the role of chairman of the supervisory board which represents family interests and approves key strategic business decisions.”

n Bernard Matthews set up his business in the back garden of his home in Taverham, Norfolk, in 1950 at the age of 20, after completing his National Service and brief experience in the auctioneers and insurance businesses.

By the following year he was hatching 200 poults a week and hand-turning 3,000 eggs twice a day with the assistance of Joyce, who later became his wife.

In 1955, he bought the empty Great Witching ham Hall for �3,000, now the headquarters of the company, It featured in many TV advertisements during the 1970s, 80s and 90s, which are most remembered for Mr Matthews' Norfolk accent which made “bootiful” a household word.

The company expanded into Suffolk, at Holton, near Halesworth, by buying a smaller rival and also has gone on to establish a presence in several European countries.

standing down: Bernard Matthews, who is about to relinquish day-to-day control of the business he set up 60 years ago