Scotland-New Years Honours for well known meat man.

SCOTLAND.

NEW YEARS HONOUR FOR LEADING MEAT WHOLESALER.

Neil Stoddart the CEO of A K Stoddart, who employ 220 staff at their two meat plants close to Edinburgh, has been honoured by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11, in the New Year Honours list, with the OBE for his distinguished services to the meat industry.

Mr Stoddart who is the former president of the Scottish Meat Wholesalers Association, and was also involved on the board of the Meat and Livestock Commissions, representing the meat processors sector.

Stoddarts have be wholesaling meat for close to 50 years, and today are very big players in the export of beef and lamb into Europe.

The Stoddarts also run a beef suckler herd of 200 cows, many of them pedigree Aberdeen Angus.

Mr Stoddart said to a local newspaper, "I am absolutely delighted and chuffed to bits at receiving this award, while meat may not be as sexy as finance or electronics the industry is a big contributor to the GDP".

Stoddarts meat operation turns over 50 million pounds sterling a year.