35 staff axed as Scottish meat suppliers stage £14m merger

TWO of Scotland's biggest suppliers of meat to restaurants popular with celebrities have come together to create a £14 million turnover business.

• MSP Alasdair Morgan: "I'm really disappointed that Buccleuch have gone down this route"

Buccleuch Foods and Campbell Brothers announced the tie-up yesterday in a deal that is seen to have saved the Buccleuch business, though it will mean the closure of a meat packing plant in Dumfriesshire.

The loss-making Buccleuch Foods factory in Castle Douglas, owned by the Duke of Buccleuch, will shut with the loss of 35 jobs - which a local MSP branded a "kick in the teeth" to the area.

The firm will merge with Campbell Brothers and will continue to market high-end beef and game under the Buccleuch brand to exclusive restaurants such as the Savoy Hotel and the Ivy in London, frequented by politicians and entertainers.

The combined business will be based at Campbell Brother's site at Bonnyrigg.

Buccleuch, which was established in 2004, produces a limited range of beef and game produce aimed at the high end of the catering and retail trade.

Although sales grew strongly, to an estimated 4.5m, the firm struggled to make a profit. It reported a pre-tax loss of 569,000 last year.

In recent years the firm took unusual steps such as selling its burgers and pies on cable television home shopping channel QVC.

John Glen, chief executive of Buccleuch Group, said the firm's location made it difficult to expand and too expensive to deliver products across the UK.

He said: "We tried everything to make it work in Castle Douglas, including hare-brained ideas such as selling meat on QVC - which was not a solution."

South of Scotland MSP Alasdair Morgan said news of the closure was a "kick in the teeth". "Thirty-five jobs is a hugely significant number in a place like Castle Douglas," he said..

"It's the equivalent of a much bigger closure in the central belt and it's pretty devastating news for all the people working there.

"Although it is a prosperous market town, there are not a huge number of jobs that run 12 months of the year.

"I'm really disappointed that Buccleuch have gone down this route because they very much trade on the quality of local produce, and to think they can just move part of this operation to Bonnyrigg flies in the face of what they are trying to do."

Glen insisted the shift of the business away from Castle Douglas would not have an impact on local suppliers. He said that the firm sourced its meat from across the UK, mainly from the AK Stoddart abattoir in Ayr which would continue to supply Campbell Brothers. He said 30 of the 35 jobs lost were based at Castle Douglas.

"The local MSP is harking back to the days when we had jams and biscuits," he said. "We stopped those a few years ago. It is a sad moment to close a plant in a small community like that. It will create an effect down there but these things happen. It wasn't for the lack of trying."Glen said jobs will be created at Campbell Brothers in Bonnyrigg as a result of the merger.

Buccleuch will take a small stake in Campbell Brothers, a long-established catering supplier specialising in fresh meat and game, which is owned by a number of investors including majority shareholders Nicholas and Stuart Robinson.

Stuart Robinson, chairman of Campbell Brothers, said: "Buccleuch Foods have created a reputation for providing the best of Scottish meat and game, particularly the famous Buccleuch beef.

"Getting together is an eminently sensible step forward for both businesses and will result in a significant increase in the provision of great Scottish produce."