Orkney Meats ceases production

The board of Orkney Meat Limited has decided, with great regret, to cease production at the company's Hatston abattoir. The decision has been taken in light of continued difficult trading conditions in the meat sector.

The board has explored all options available to the company but concluded that it would be in the interests of shareholders, employees and customers to wind down the company's operations in as orderly a manner as possible.
All staff have been advised of the closure and that all posts at the abattoir are likely to be made redundant.

At the present time it is not known when final production will cease as this is subject to a number of factors. It is not, however, anticipated that production will continue beyond March 2012.

Statement from QMS re Orkney Meat

Jim McLaren, chairman of Quality Meat Scotland, described the news of the decision by the board of Orkney Meat to cease production as a bitter blow for Orkney and the north of Scotland.

“It is very concerning that a business which has worked hard to add value locally and built an enviable reputation for quality should find it impossible to continue trading.

“The position Orkney Meat has found itself in further highlights the extreme difficulties being faced by processors up and down the country. These were brought sharply into focus this week with the announcement by ANM Group of a meat trading loss of almost £4m for 2011.

“This week's announcements further underline the need to maintain critical mass in our Scottish livestock industry. Any fear that an increase in stock numbers could undermine producer prices needs to be balanced against the potential impact on the future competitiveness of the whole red meat chain of the loss of key parts of our processing sector.”