North-east abattoir Scotbeef Inverurie has finally given the green light to build a new plant beside ANM Group’s mart at Thainstone.
The plans have been in the pipeline since 2013 and this week ANM Group chairman Pat Machray revealed they would finally go ahead.
Scotbeef Inverurie is a joint venture between Scotland’s largest meat processing firm – J.W. Galloway – and north-east farmer’s co-operative ANM Group, which has a 25% stake.
It formed in 2012 when J.W. Galloway acquired a majority share in Scotch Premier Meat from the ANM Group and the independently owned processor Mathers of Inverurie.
Speaking at ANM Group’s annual meeting on Tuesday, Mr Machray said: “Shareholders are now in a position to step up the progress [with the new abattoir] over the next few months.
“A site has been identified and agreed upon. The new abattoir will have increased throughput and will not only safeguard jobs also present further employment opportunities for the community.”
He said discussions were not taking place with the relevant government and local authority agencies to move the project forward.
In October last year, accounts released by the company revealed it had a challenging first 17 months of trading.
The accounts, which covered the period from September 10, 2012 to March 2, 2014, revealed pre-tax losses of £1.088million against a turnover of £90.069million.
At the time the group blamed challenging market conditions and the challenge of combining two “previously struggling businesses” for the results.
Scotbeef Inverurie’s move to Thainstone is among several planned or proposed additions to the site.
In January, a leading farm machinery dealer in the north and north-east announced plans to build a new depot at Thainstone.
Ravenhill, which specialises in New Holland, Kuhn and Kubota machinery, will build a depot on 1.7 acres of land at the site.
The company hopes the new dealership, which will be up and running next year, will eventually replace its depot at Dyce, Aberdeen.
Meanwhile, plans to relocate SRUC’s north-east campus to Thainstone will be put to the college’s board for approval in July.
At a press briefing earlier this month, ANM said it was working on a “full business case” with SRUC on the design of the buildings, which include plans for student accommodation on the site.
If given the go ahead, the new campus will replace the Craibstone campus on the outskirts of Aberdeen.