abp meat packing

ABP Food Group has announced plans to close its Blackburn abattoir and processing plant.

A spokesman confirmed the company was moving operations from Blackburn following “a review of activities at the site and the reopening of the new state-of-the-art abattoir at ABP Ellesmere, Shropshire.

He said ABP had “undertaken a full collective consultation with colleagues at Blackburn, all of whom were offered alternative roles elsewhere in the company”.

ABP completed the £30m revamp of its Ellesmere beef processing plant in September. The 60,000 sq m facility includes a high-tech abattoir, deboning hall and retail packing facilities, and receives cattle from more than 2,000 farmers.

Steve Thompson, category director for ABP, said the new facility put the company at the “very forefront of European beef production”.