ABP closes Bathgate plant

SCOTLAND’S SHEEP farmers have been dealt a further blow with the announcement that Irish-owned firm Anglo Beef Processors is to mothball its lamb processing plant at Bathgate, West Lothian.

The factory, which handled about 500,000 lambs a year – a third of the lambs processed in Scotland – will close on May 27, with the loss of 80 jobs.

The news follows on the heels of the recent acquisition of the Kepak processing plant in Turriff, Aberdeenshire, by the retailer Morrisons.

That buy-out is likely to cut lamb processing in Scotland further, with the Turriff factory now concentrating on cattle.

According to NFU Scotland, only about half the three million lambs born in Scotland each year are processed north of the border.

“We only process around half our annual lamb crop, and ABP Bathgate and the Kepak plant accounted for 40% of that.

“So this latest reduction is a significant dent,” said NFUS president, John Kinnaird.

ABP said there had always been difficulties in operating the Bathgate plant because it was dedicated solely to lamb processing in a Scottish market that produces lamb on a seasonal basis.

The company added that the Bathgate plant would be kept “under care and maintenance” until a final decision was made on any future role for the site.