May 5, 2012

Following Caithness Beef & Lamb being placed in Scottish administration, a major meat processing plant with state of the art equipment which has never actually been in full production has been brought to the market.

Based at Mid Keiss near Wick, the GBP4 million (US$6.5 million) facility consists of an abattoir and the latest meat processing and packaging technology as well as offices and storage. Its construction was aided by GBP798,000 (US$1.3 million) of grant money from a number of sources including a marketing grant from the Scottish Government

The joint administrators, Iain Fraser and Tom MacLennan of RSM Tenon, hope the facility will attract interest from Europe's farming and food processing industries.

Fraser said: "We are selling a virtually new plant that could be brought into production relatively quickly and easily.

The plant took three years to design and build, and features some of the best slaughtering and food processing equipment available."

Caithness Beef & Lamb initially aimed to provide an abattoir service for farmers in the north of Scotland and it was built by John Sutherland to take over from the Wick slaughterhouse.

There were plans to develop a range of Caithness-branded meat products, including prime cuts, sausages and haggis, but none of these ever materialised.

The administration comes only days after Alan McNaughton, the newly elected president of the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers, warned of the extreme financial pressure being faced by meat processors.