50 Years of the Kelly Family Business

In 2021, we celebrated 50 years of the Kelly family business. Derek and Mollie Kelly established the business in 1971 in Danbury, Essex, after Derek left the corporate turkey industry to work independently. Starting with a broiler farm and chick hatchery, they moved into hatching turkey poults and producing birds for the Christmas market. Over the following five decades, the business developed across the turkey production chain, including breeding, hatching, rearing and processing. Paul Kelly, Derek and Mollie's son, became Managing Director, while the family's work with traditional bronze turkeys developed into the KellyBronze brand. By the anniversary year, the business remained based in Danbury while its activities extended beyond Essex, including production elsewhere in the UK and the United States. The anniversary also coincided with a new generation becoming involved in the family business. Ella Kelly joined ahead of the anniversary, working in marketing alongside duties on the farm, and described preparations for events marking the company's 50th year. KellyBronze's own history records 2021 as both its 50th year in business and a point at which a third generation of the Kelly family was working in farming.