H and I Livestock are procurement agents for sister company Scotch Premier Meat Ltd, who operate an abattoir at Dornoch, Sutherland, as a specialist lamb processing plant.

Scotch Premier supply Highland Lamb which is recognised by butchers and caterers alike as a premium product and is in high demand.

The facility offers a tremendous opportunity for Highland sheep farmers to market their prime lambs to best advantage. High quality standards will be vital. The target grades are E, U and R for conformation and 2-3L for fat cover.

Tuesday 12th January 2010

ANM Group Announce Meat Processing And Abattoir Changes

Plans to close the Highland Country Foods meat processing unit at Forres and the transfer of lamb slaughtering activities from Dornoch to Inverurie have been announced today by ANM Group.

The changes, which are planned for completion by March this year, are part of the farmer-owned cooperative’s drive to maintain the strongest possible core to its business in the face of declining livestock supplies and a highly competitive marketplace.

“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 Alan Craig, ANM Group CEO.  “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.

“It is obviously regrettable that the two planned changes we have announced today may involve some job losses.  Hopefully, as many as possible of those affected will be able to transfer to other ANM plants.  Where this isn’t practical, we will do all we can to help or facilitate staff to find alternative employment.” 

The planned transfer of lamb slaughtering activities from Scotch Premier Meat’s Dornoch plant to its Inverurie base will be supported by a £400,000 upgrade at the parent plant. This is an essential improvement which will increase the Inverurie plant’s capabilities for handling both sheep and pigs.  A total of 29 staff, currently employed at Dornoch, are affected by the decision.  Staff numbers at Inverurie total 139.

Highland Country, owned by ANM since 2004, employs 18 people at Forres and produces 800 tonnes of cooked meat and bacon a year.  It is planned to transfer most of this output to the Group's Glasgow site which currently produces 1,800 tonnes a year and employs 32 people. Some output may also be relocated to the Group’s site in Inverurie.

A considerable proportion of the stock slaughtered at Dornoch in recent years was sourced from farms in Aberdeenshire and Morayshire.  This arrangement required large numbers of live sheep to be transported one way along the A96, only for carcases to then be taken back to Inverurie for processing and distribution.  The possibility of operating a central collection unit at Dornoch, for livestock supplies coming from producers in the Highlands, is still under discussion.

“As indicated in mid-December last year, 2009 was one of the toughest trading years we’ve ever faced as a Group,” said Mr Craig.  “At the same time, our balance sheet remains one of the healthiest in the business - it is vital that we retain this essential strength by continuing to reinforce the core of our business.  That will sometimes involve change and the need for tough decisions. 

“In addition to the planned changes at Forres and Dornoch, staff across the entire Group have also been informed there will be no salary increases this year.  Much as we would prefer not to have to take such measures, they are designed to help us retain a sound and secure platform from which we will be ready to move forward again when time and opportunity allows.  We believe that today’s measures will help maintain jobs for our 500 colleagues across the Group as well as benefiting our 7500 shareholders and the rural communities of Scotland and Northern England on which our different business units are based.  We therefore continue to look forward with optimism, confident that ANM Group resources are being used to the full and that our potential for future growth remains strong.”

Background
The ANM Group, which was founded as a farming cooperative in 1872, processes 40,000 tonnes of meat a year through four Scottish plants and two English plants.  The Group’s auction business, meanwhile, handles 400,000 head of livestock a year.  The business has maintained strong farming roots throughout its history with its auction and farm business headquarters at Inverurie now acknowledged as the largest such farm business centre in Europe.