Princess Royal opens Dunbia Highland Meats plant following £12m upgrade
HRH the Princess Royal official opened Dunbia’s Highland Meats’ Saltcoats plant, following a £12 million investment.
The Princess Royal is president of the Scotch Beef Club which has members across Scotland and the wider United Kingdom.
The new facilities, which include upgrades to its abattoir and cutting areas, seeks to support the long-term expansion of Highland Meats which employs over 320 staff. The £12 million investment also includes new deboning and packaging technology and a focus on improved environmental performance at the site.
Supported by Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish government, the investment is part of the project’s commitment to the long-term future of the plant and the wider meat processing sector which is worth over £1 billion to the Scottish economy.
Dawn Meats has been involved in Scotland since it acquired Highland Meats in 1986, working with a network of over 1,000 farmer suppliers.
Enhancing relationships
Niall Browne, CEO of Dunbia’s parent company Dawn Meats, said: “It is an honour to host Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal at Highland Meats, and we thank her along with representatives from Quality Meat Scotland, the Scottish government, Scottish Enterprise, local producer suppliers and customers for joining us in the opening of our upgraded facility.
“Dawn Meats has had a strong presence in Scotland for over 35 years and we look forward to enhancing the relationships we have built with the community, customers, and suppliers, which this investment at Dunbia Highland Meats will allow us to achieve.”
Supporting further expansion
Jane McHarg, general manager at Highland Meats, said: “We are immensely proud to have a strong network of local producers who allow us to offer the highest quality Scotch Beef PGI products to our customers. We are confident that this investment will underpin further expansion of our Scottish Beef business.”
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