The Lakes Free Range Egg Company has been presented with its King’s Award for Sustainable Development.
Following a formal reception at Windsor Castle last year, the official presentation of the King’s Award for Enterprise in the Sustainable Development category was made to David and Helen Brass and their team at The Lakes’ packing centre and headquarters in Stainton, near Penrith.
Representing Cumbria’s Lord Lieutenant at the presentation were Deputy Lieutenants Bryan Gray and Ian Brown.
The King’s Awards for Enterprise honour exceptional achievements made by UK businesses. This marked the 50th year of the monarchs’ awards celebrating British business success, and it was the second time The Lakes has received this prestigious honour.
David said: “Putting this award into perspective, fewer than 200 companies nationwide received awards across four categories this year, and only 27 of those were for sustainable development.
“We were told that this is the most challenging category in which to be recognised, so to receive it twice is a huge accolade to the work of our entire team.
“This means everyone from our farmer suppliers who all have biodiversity action plans on their farms, to our farm and factory colleagues and our despatch team.
“Our first award was the Queen’s Award in 2018, when the company celebrated its 21st anniversary, and this second award was announced last year.
“No other egg producer or packer has achieved this level of recognition, and we are immensely proud of both the achievement and the team that helped us accomplish it.”
Mr Gray said: “This award sets an extremely high bar to achieve. It is a very exclusive club – and one which King Charles is keen to support.
“It is a particularly outstanding achievement to receive recognition in this category for a second time and is a testament to setting exacting standards and pursuing excellence at all times, alongside good leadership, and a talented team.”
The Lakes Free Range Egg Company was founded in 1997. Today, it is one of the UK’s largest specialised free-range egg producers and packers, achieving this through a network of producers and by developing a farming model that is profitable, sustainable, and replicable.
From inception, they have always believed that planting trees improves the welfare of free-range hens. When they began, no industry standards existed, so they led the way.
By planting native trees and shrubs on their ranges—and those of their producers—the company has enhanced wildlife habitats and biodiversity, significantly increasing both the variety and number of species recorded on farms.
The benefits of planting trees have been proven to improve animal welfare, with research conducted in collaboration with other organisations and a number of universities.
The firm has carried out large-scale bioacoustics research, to better understand how biodiversity in the food chain is enriched as trees mature.
Although findings are preliminary, they are significant. Across all producer farms, the team identified 79 species, including 13 bird species on the official Red List.
Additional research is exploring how tree planting next to hen housing affects ammonia levels on ranges. The results are expected to help shape planting plans in the future.
Always innovating, The Lakes’ packing station is industry-leading, with modern technologies and a minimal carbon footprint. In addition, their unique state-of-the-art, dark brooding system grows day-old chicks into young pullets, using 90% less energy than standard rearing units, with the well-developed pullets arriving on farms at the point of laying.
The company has a long-standing commitment to technological innovation.
For more than a decade, David has worked on a groundbreaking data co-ordination system that provides producers with a live feed of information and early alerts to potential issues.
Known as BirdBox, it is the world’s most comprehensive poultry monitoring system and the first to deliver real-time data in a format easily understood by farmers and their advisors.
Developed at a cost of £2 million, the system is now rolled out onto their producer farms.
David said: “Receiving this award at the beginning of 2026 is a welcome boost for our team, particularly at a time when sustainability and British food production are such important issues – areas that both King Charles and our business care deeply about.
“We are proud of what we have achieved so far and excited about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”
