Farmer-owned UK agri-businesses ANM is to close two meat processing units in Scotland with the loss of around 50 jobs.
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The farmer-owned business, which owns Aberdeen & Northern Marts, is closing Scotch Premier Meat’s lamb slaughter plant at Dornoch, which it bought out of receivership ten years ago, and Highland Country Foods’ meat processing unit at Forres.
The closure of the Forres-based facility, which is expected to take place by March, is part of the co-operative’s drive to maintain the “strongest possible core” to its business in the face of “declining livestock supplies and a highly competitive marketplace”, the firm said today (13 January).
As a result, lamb slaughtering activities will transfer from Dornoch to Scotch Premier’s Inverurie abattoir where a GBP400,000 (US$651,000) investment is being made to upgrade the plant. Most of the Forres business will move to another ANM subsidiary, Charcuterie Continental, at Twechar, near Glasgow, the firm said.
The Dornoch plant employs 29 staff, while 18 are employed at Forres.
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By GlobalData“The only way a meat and livestock business such as ours can continue to prosper in today’s business and trading environment is by being smarter and fitter than our competitors,” said ANM chief executive Alan Craig.
“We have a strong financial base, committed producer support, top-class products and a highly skilled staff. These are the qualities which will keep us moving forward in 2010, and beyond, but only if we continue to make the right decisions on how the business is structured and operated.”
