Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeenshire businessman calls for support to run Oban Livestock Centre

The mart at Oban stages pedigree Highland cattle sales.
The mart at Oban stages pedigree Highland cattle sales.

A leading north-east businessman who applied to take over the management of the Oban Livestock Centre has accused the mart’s owners of not exploring all potential future management avenues thoroughly.

George Pirie, who runs an antiques dealing business and also breeds Aberdeen-Angus cattle, put together a bid to manage the mart alongside a group of others including National Sheep Association Scottish region event organiser Euan Emslie.

Up until recently the mart, which is owned by the Argyll and Islands Agricultural Trust, was run by Stirling-based Caledonian Marts.

The contract was recently put out to tender and five parties applied to take on the business.

No official decision has been made about the result of the tender process, however the board of directors at the trust have recommended that United Auctions be appointed to run the mart.

United Auctions previously operated a mart in Oban and the trust, and subsequently the new mart, was formed when the firm pulled out of the area, causing much controversy at the time.

Last night, Mr Pirie, said he had being contacted by several shareholders at the mart who felt they had not been kept fully informed about the options open to them.

He said: “I’m from a farming family and we’ve been trading in the Argyll area for three generations. We know the area and we know the business. We are a new team with new ideas and we know that Oban mart is going to be crucial to the future success of the industry in Argyll and the Islands.

“We want to see it run as a thriving business, in its own right, not just a satellite offshoot of one of the older, established concerns. When shareholders put up their hands to vote at the AGM on the 30th they must be fully aware of what they are voting for – the future of their mart may depend on it.”

Oban farmer Neil McCorkindale, who has been a director at the trust since its inception more than 20 years ago, said shareholders would get the chance to decide on the future management of the mart at a meeting on Tuesday.

Mr McCorkindale, who is also chairman of the Scottish Beef Association, said: “United Auctions is our preferred option for a variety of reasons. It was not an easy decision to take.

“We understand that there will be some resentment but United Auctions have a foothold in the area and they source a lot of stock privately throughout the area, which could be going through Oban Mart.”

He said shareholders would be given information on all five tender bids at next week’s meeting and said “there will be nothing hidden”.