The importance of the move by 2 Sisters Food Group to acquire Vion’s Scottish operations including the firm’s poultry factory at Coupar Angus cannot be overstated.
Local resident and Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney was among those able to breathe a little easier after Monday’s announcement brought to a close what has been a particularly dark period for the nation’s food industry.
Vion’s decision last year to shut Hall’s of Broxburn sent shockwaves through the sector and left some 1,700 meat-processing workers facing life on the dole.
The economic argument put forward by Vion for the decision was extremely persuasive I know of no company that would give ad nauseam support to an operation producing a daily £80,000 loss.
However, it was obvious from the outset that nothing was going to stop Vion from shutting the gates at Hall’s even an ambitious and highly unusual taxpayer-funded rescue bid by the Scottish Government was rejected out of hand.
And it seemed that lack of willingness to engage did not bode well for Vion’s other British assets.
The company’s UK portfolio was officially put up for sale in November, sparking real concern for the future of Coupar Angus, McIntosh Donald’s beef operation at Portlethen, and a smaller poultry operation at Cambuslang.
The concern about the Perthshire plant was well placed.
The factory employs a workforce of more than 700 in a town that has fewer than 2,000 residents.
Although many of those skilled butchers, meat processors and backroom staff are bussed in to work at the site each day, the economic impact of closure on the town would have been catastrophic.
The ripple effect of an end to production on the local shops, pubs and trades is hard to fully imagine, and the financial hole would have taken years to plug if this could ever have been done at all.
That is why the 2 Sisters deal is so important for the town and was welcomed with such relief by workers and worthies alike.
However, what it does not mean is that Coupar Angus can now rest on its laurels in the knowledge that its long-term future is secured.
It was made clear by 2 Sisters that Vion’s poultry business both in Perthshire and elsewhere has been underperforming, and there is no doubt that major operational change is on its way.
The firm, headed by former butcher boy Ranjit Singh who founded the business in 1993, has not grown to a £2.3 billion turnover business employing 18,000 people by accident.
The company is a major supplier to Sainsbury’s, M&S, Lidl and Aldi and is also heavily involved with supermarket giant Tesco, providing a range of food products from pizza to ready meals, salads and meats.
Clients like those simply do not thole poor performance the horsemeat scandal has taught us such, with the cancellation of contracts of implicated suppliers so management at Coupar Angus will have to be on their game to ensure standards are maintained and improved upon in the months ahead.
The first piece of good news is that 2 Sisters say they want to grow the Vion business significantly.
The second piece is that the dodgy burgers debacle has created a real opportunity for UK-based meat suppliers and processors who can prove the field-to-table lineage of their products.
Far from being the end of the Coupar Angus facility, the change of ownership could actually be the shot in the arm that helps the local economy kick-on to greater things.
That opportunity has to be seized upon.
business@thecourier.co.uk