PLANS for Aberdeenshire’s new abattoir, went live at Thainstone Agricultural Centre, last week, where farmers were able to view the first plans of Scotbeef Inverurie’s meat plant which is hoped will be up and running by April 2019.
With the ANM Group owning a 25% share of the company, alongside Scotbeef, the intension is to seek planning permission to build the abattoir at the Thainstone Business Park.
Uel Morton, former Quality Meat Scotland chief executive, who will be overseeing the plans of the meat plant said that only cattle will be processed in new unit which compares to the present abattoir which kills sheep, cattle and pigs.
However, the new abattoir will include increased retail packing facilities for meat.
Meanwhile, Northern Irish meat processor, Dunbia and the Irish-based processor, Dawn Meats have completed a new joint venture, with all relevant regulatory clearances approved.
Dawn Meats has agreed a strategic partnership with the Dungannon-based firm Dunbia to establish a majority owned joint venture in the United Kingdom comprising the UK operations of both organisations.
The combined businesses now trade as Dunbia and are managed by former Dunbia head Jim Dobson as chief executive and Dawn Meats’ CEO Niall Browne as executive chairman.
As a result, the combined businesses in the UK and Ireland will be able process approximately 900,000 cattle and 2.6m sheep per year.
Commenting on the new venture, Niall Browne, chief executive of Dawn Meats said: “We can now look to deliver the benefits that we believe this transaction will bring for our customers, staff and suppliers. Our focus will continue to be on quality and sustainability across three leading national businesses – Dawn Meats in Ireland, Dunbia in the UK and Elivia in France.”
Dawn Meats was established in 1980 and has grown to a business with more than £1.8bn annual sales, employing more 7000 staff in eight countries, while Dunbia was founded in 1976 by brothers Jim and Jack Dobson as a butcher’s shop in Dungannon. It has a turnover of around £800m and already processes beef and lamb in nine sites across the UK and Ireland.