Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal has officially opened Dunbia’s Highland Meats’ upgraded facilities, following a £12 million investment.

The Princess Royal, Anne, is president of the Scotch Beef Club which has members across Scotland and the wider United Kingdom.

The new facilities she opened, which include upgrades to the abattoir and cutting areas at the Saltcoats plant, will support the long-term expansion of Highland Meats which employs over 320 staff.

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.”

The investment received by Highland Meats was supported by Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Government, in a 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 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,” Browne added.

Jane McHarg, general manager at Highland Meats also commented:

“This investment, with support from Scottish Enterprise, is part of our ongoing commitment to Highland Meats and the wider Scottish meat industry.

“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.”