Houghton Hams jobs and careers

About Houghton Hams

We’re a family run food production business in Northampton, UK, where we were established in 1983 by Nigel Wagstaff. We produce award-winning meat products with the best British and EU pork, supplying the catering and retail sector. Our story is one that stretches more than 40 years, and four generations of family, which all started with Nigel’s Uncle Don. Don worked in farming his whole life and he inherited Grove Farm in Moulton – a village in Northampton – in the 1970s following the sad passing of his employer. It was during this time that Don introduced Nigel to the farming life, with Nigel working on the land and rearing the animals on the weekends. During the week he’d then help his father in the local butcher’s shop, delivering his rounds on a push bike. Don sold Grove Farm to pursue his love of farming in Devon but this period left a lasting impression on Nigel. Fast forward to 1983: Following redundancy at a firm, Nigel with the support of his wife Jo, took a leap of faith and started the family business. It was then that Houghton Hams was born. With Nigel’s experience in both farming and butchery, and the acquisition of their secret recipe ‘the Wagstaff complete cure’, the business produced artisan hams and gammons, operating in a small unit in the village. Always selecting the best regional UK and European based farms, we have continued to produce excellent quality meat products for 40 years, meeting the strictest welfare and industry standards, and winning several awards along the way. Today, our business still operates from Moulton, in a premises that is 10 times the size of our original home. We remain under the careful management of the Wagstaff family, with Nigel and Jo leading the business alongside their four children – Paul, Linda, Julie and Sarah – and with 60+ employees making up the extended Houghton Hams family. We still manufacture using same secret recipe, with family and passion at the heart of everything we do.