Jim Dobson, the co-founder of Dunbia, has bought into Evolution Farming, the English dairy farming group.

The group currently milks 3,300 cows across nine sites, managing 9,500ac of land.

The company describes the Dobson involvement as part of a multi-million pound investment plan, marking a new phase of growth for Evolution.

Jim Dobson’s son Matthew will also join the business, with the brief to develop a new integrated beef division in Evolution to complement the dairy enterprise.

Jim and his brother Jack Dobson founded Dunbia in 1976 in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, and built it into one of the largest beef and sheepmeat processing businesses in Ireland and the UK.

In 2017, they entered into a joint venture with Dawn, which involved taking the Dunbia Slane factory into the Dawn Ireland business while Dawn’s UK business was rebranded Dunbia.

Just over a year ago, Dawn bought the remaining Dobson interest in Dunbia and Jim Dobson retired from the business.