Denis Lynn

Leading all of Finnebrogue’s commercial activity, Denis has overseen the firm’s extraordinary growth into the major player it is today.

Starting by selling pizzas and pies out of a little white van, Denis quickly realised to be successful he needed to maximise volume and margin. In discovering a new French fry, he became the largest customer of Lord Chips in Europe and used the money he made to buy the beautiful Finnebrogue estate in 1991.

During the 1990s he was a beef farmer and then a deer farmer. Denis established Finnebrogue as the largest farmer and processor of deer in the UK, supplying Michelin star restaurants, top supermarkets and celebrity chefs.

Since then, he has been at the heart of many food revolutions, from the posh dog to nitrite-free bacon. In three years from 2015 he opened three state of the art factories, grew the business’s turnover to nearly £100m and now employs 500 staff.

In 2018, the Institute of Directors named Denis the UK’s most innovative director of the year.