Up to 90 jobs have been lost following the closure of an Aberdeenshire abattoir.
The Scotbeef site in Inverurie closed its doors on Wednesday with all staff being made redundant.
The company said an operational review concluded the closure was necessary to protect the long-term future of the business amid industry challenges.
A spokesperson said a redundancy process is now under way with staff, and that all affected employees will be supported throughout the period.
A spokesperson for Scotbeef Inverurie said: “Despite our best efforts to address the sustained challenges within the UK meat and beef industry over the past 18 months, we have unfortunately taken the difficult decision to close our Inverurie site.
“Decisions such as these are never easy, and we understand that there will be a significant impact on our staff, many of whom have shown loyalty and commitment to the business over many years.”
Scotbeef has two other Scottish sites, one in East Kilbride and the other in Annan, as well as three sites in England.
The family-owned business was founded in 1920 and supplies Beef and Lamb to UK retailers. It claims to be the first company to bring the Aberdeen Angus brand to the retail market in 1993.
