FSA and HallMark Conduct Joint Visit to Pilgrim’s Westerleigh Site
As part of the ongoing collaboration between HallMark Veterinary & Compliance Services and the Food Standards Agency (FSA), representatives from both organisations recently carried out a joint visit to the Pilgrim’s facility in Westerleigh, Gloucestershire. The visit reinforced the shared commitment to delivering high standards in food safety, animal welfare, and official controls across the meat processing sector.
Joint visits such as these are designed to provide senior leadership teams with firsthand insight into operational delivery on site, while strengthening engagement with frontline colleagues and food business operators. Previous visits have shown that observing Official Veterinarians (OVs) and Meat Hygiene Inspectors (MHIs) in action helps leadership teams better understand operational challenges and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
Attendees
Representing the FSA were:
Junior Johnson, Director of Operations
Kevin Maher, Head of Animal Welfare, Contracts & SLAs
Chris Jones, Head of Operational Delivery, Wales and West
From HallMark:
Patrick Steel, Managing Director
Luis Castromil, Head of Official Controls
Müge Genç, HallMark Official Veterinarian guided attendees around the site and introduced them to the MHIs working for both the FSA and HallMark.
Purpose of the Visit
Joint FSA–HallMark visits are part of an ongoing programme to promote transparency, collaboration, and continuous improvement in official control delivery. They provide opportunities to:
Observe official controls on site
Engage with operational teams and food business operators
Gather feedback on systems and processes
Strengthen relationships across regulators, delivery partners, and industry
These visits support open dialogue, build trust and help ensure consistent standards across the sector.
Observations and Engagement
At Westerleigh, attendees observed OVs and MHIs at work and discussed operational practices with site personnel. The visit highlighted the professionalism of frontline teams and the strong working relationships between regulators and industry.
Experience from previous visits shows that direct engagement and observation help reinforce confidence in official controls while supporting continuous improvement and consistency across regions.
Strengthening Collaboration
Visits like this underline the value of partnership working throughout the regulatory system, fostering clear communication, strong professional relationships and positive engagement between all parties.
HallMark thanks Pilgrim’s, particularly Lee Oldfield, Abattoir Manager, for hosting and for supporting constructive, collaborative discussion.
Working Lunch and Follow-Up Discussions
Following the site visit, attendees continued discussions over a working lunch at HallMark’s Head Office in Gloucestershire. The session provided an opportunity to reflect on observations from the visit, share feedback and discuss future priorities for maintaining high standards in official control delivery.
