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Holland’s Pies boss leaves post

10:40am Wednesday 11th May 2011 in Baxenden Photograph of the Author By Chris Hopper, Reporter

GONE Ed Hyslop GONE Ed Hyslop

THE boss of Holland’s Pies has left the company – less than a year after the controversial exit of the man he replaced.

Ed Hyslop is a high-profile casualty of the management restructure by Ranjit Boparan, the new owner of Holland’s parent company Northern Foods.

It leaves the historic pie firm, one of East Lancashire’s most famous brands, without an on-site managing director.

And it comes less than a year after Neil Court-Johnston, Mr Hyslop’s predecessor, left Holland’s after being accused of trying to sell the business without his bosses’ consent.

A Northern Foods spokesman said: “We can confirm that Ed Hyslop has left the company following the takeover by Ranjit Boparan.

“This is part of the restructuring following the takeover.”

The spokesman admitted he did not know when a replacement would be appointed but stressed that Holland’s had many on-site managers who would ensure the Baxenden factory runs smoothly.

Just last month Mr Hyslop told the Lancashire Telegraph his position was safe.

He spent 10 years at Woodward Food-service before joining Northern in April 2010.

Mr Hyslop is understood to have taken up responsibility for Holland’s last autumn, along with a role overseeing McDougalls Pies in Ireland.

A Northern Foods source said Mr Hyslop was not involved in the day-to-day running of Holland’s in the same way as Mr Court-Johnston was.

Mr Court-Johnston is now the boss of South Wales-based Peter’s Food.

Mr Hyslop was unavailable for comment.

Comments(25)

ghanto says...
12:49pm Wed 11 May 11

how many pies did you take home with you
cheers

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bburnrover says...
2:03pm Wed 11 May 11

i hope the pie factory stays viable a i love their pies and so does Benni McCarthy and David Dunn.

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ellenc says...
2:45pm Wed 11 May 11

My uncle works there and says that it's gone down hill since Mr Court-Johnson left.

"A Northern Foods source said Mr Hyslop was not involved in the day-to-day running of Holland’s in the same way as Mr Court-Johnston was."

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jennifer14 says...
3:03pm Wed 11 May 11

It's true.Things were going well before he got the push. Oddly, it all sounds a bit like Blackburn Rovers!

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Robred says...
3:34pm Wed 11 May 11

Couldn't agree more. Bring NCJ back please - he knows Holland's, turned it around and is the man to lead the business. My best pal is there and this last year has been a disaster.

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sdr1000 says...
4:04pm Wed 11 May 11

Definitely agree - when Mr Court-Johnston was around there was a much better atmosphere, more pies out of the doors and some excellent marketing promotions. Maybe now things have changed he will get the chance to come back - who knows?

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Izanears says...
4:54pm Wed 11 May 11

I have been connected with the food industry for 50 years and it hurts me to say this, but looking at the new owners of the group which owns Holland's Pies, I will forecast major changes in the next year or so, and they won't be good ones.

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clarets99 says...
5:51pm Wed 11 May 11

Sad to see Holland's struggling, a couple of years ago they seemed to be doing well. Be interesting to see where they go from here.

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maltablackburnian says...
7:26pm Wed 11 May 11

Looks like another case of Venky's disease. Steve Kean to manage the pie factory?
Seriously, another great Lancashire institution is under threat and these new owners won't give a toss about heritage. I just hope there are not many job losses.

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williamleesjones says...
8:42pm Wed 11 May 11

i remember being shown around the hollands factory by neil court johnson and being impressed by the passion that he had for the business and the understanding that he had for building the business. Bring back Neil (if it's possible), he's a good lad and you couldn't move for Hollands pies when he was around. In fact we put Hollands in all of our pubs becauses they're proper pies (which go well with proper beer). Hollands needs strong leadership now - or it will close and just become a brand on packaging.

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AccyRed says...
9:06pm Wed 11 May 11

I work there and Ed Hyslop was just a name who nobody ever saw. When it was announced he was leaving staff said Ed Who?
Bring back Court-Johnson, Northern Foods did not invest a penny in Hollands and where only interested in transferring production to Ireland, the take-over has stopped that for now.
I predict that Hollands will not be making pies in Baxenden in a years time, staff are already being made redundant due to some poor marketing decisions by Northern Foods who unlike Court-Johnson seem unable to grasp just what Hollands is all about.

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TheresonlyoneH says...
9:06pm Wed 11 May 11

Neil Court-Johnston is the best thing that ever happened to Holland's. He brought it back from almost dead for Northern Foods and they repaid him with nothing more than duplicity - stitched him up good and proper. I worked for NCJ and would never have believed, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, the passion an individual could have for a pie, the brand and the workforce. A truly unique man. The sooner Holland's is privately owned, the sooner the business can begin it's recovery, the local area can benefit and the workforce can begin to believe in it's management. Bring back NCJ and Holland's will not only survive, it will thrive again.

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AccyRed says...
9:10pm Wed 11 May 11

TheresonlyoneH wrote:
Neil Court-Johnston is the best thing that ever happened to Holland's. He brought it back from almost dead for Northern Foods and they repaid him with nothing more than duplicity - stitched him up good and proper. I worked for NCJ and would never have believed, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, the passion an individual could have for a pie, the brand and the workforce. A truly unique man. The sooner Holland's is privately owned, the sooner the business can begin it's recovery, the local area can benefit and the workforce can begin to believe in it's management. Bring back NCJ and Holland's will not only survive, it will thrive again.
I couldn't have said i any better myself, love your pen-name :-)

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B&WBoy says...
9:21pm Wed 11 May 11

ghanto wrote:
how many pies did you take home with you
cheers
Worked at Hollands Pies during Neil Court-Johnston's time. The place was buzzin' and for the first time in a long time growing! Can't understand why they let him go and not surprised that the new bloke couldn't match up!

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lizzeb says...
9:36pm Wed 11 May 11

I wonder has Hollands got a death wish? Everything they've done this last year from booting Court-Johnston out to putting Hyslop in charge seems aimed at killing the business. Perhaps at last they'll get their act together and put C-J back in charge. I've worked for 4 managing directors there and he was the only one who knew what he was doing.

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ellenc says...
9:44pm Wed 11 May 11

I agree lizzeb - my uncle is there now and is totally p*****d off with the way it has all been run down. Very sad. Come back Court-Johnson!!!!

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LittlePea says...
9:45pm Wed 11 May 11

Two MDs in two years - makes you wonder what's going on?

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Olivares says...
10:09pm Wed 11 May 11

This company finally started to get its act together a couple of years ago. Now it has imploded. Such a shame when a famous company and local jobs are at stake.

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Pete Doc says...
11:09pm Wed 11 May 11

Holland’s Pies boss leaves post......he's left for pasties new!

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JimStanton says...
9:28am Thu 12 May 11

Why are Hollands going through MDs so quickly. a couple of years ago they were doing well and now it's just losing its good standing. I notice a few people are mentioning Court-Johnson, he did such a good job when he was there.

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SMarsdan says...
9:49am Thu 12 May 11

Holland's was doing so well a couple of years ago, what happened? Such a shame. Hope things work out.

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Itsme1 says...
10:55am Thu 12 May 11

It's the same guy that has Harry ramsden that has bought northern foods (Inc Hollands). He supplies most major supermarkets with chicken products under his two sisters company. Bring the good times to Hollands and sell to someone who knows what there doing. And not have some one a bees running the place.... I believe the atmosphere is the worst it has been amongst staff to many big chiefs in one place who don't have a clue what Hollands is about.

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hairy mary says...
5:46pm Thu 12 May 11

put me in charge and ill sack the lot of you and make a big pie for myself

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AccyRed says...
7:02pm Fri 13 May 11

More redundancies announced today :-(

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JWills_99 says...
2:38pm Fri 20 May 11

After years in the doldrums, NCJ brought Holland's back to rude health. In his first year, we made a £1m profit and £1.5m in his second. His reward for this turnaround was to be sacked; a witless cardboard cut-out was the replacement. Holland's needs someone like NCJ to stand any chance of success.

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