A major shake-up to the board of the Meat Plant has been announced.

The move comes just weeks after the Manx National Farmers’ Union declared it has no confidence in the management of the government-owned and subsidised Meat Plant.

Five new directors have been appointed to the board of Isle of Man Meats, including Damien Corcoran who replaces Nigel Davis as chairman.

The plant’s managing director Rebecca Miah and Allan Skillicorn, Fat Stock Marketing Association director, remain but Mr Davis and Dr John Taylerson have left the board.

The changes will take place with immediate effect.

In a statement, the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture said the main objective of the restructured board will be to stabilise operations and provide enhanced certainty for farmers regarding production levels.

DEFA Minister Clare Barber said: ‘We’ve made good progress in clarifying financial management, asset management and control, as well as resolving a number of HR and compliance issues at the abattoir itself, but there is plenty still to be done.’

She said she was confident that the new board would bring ‘much needed confidence as we look to give farmers, butchers and the Isle of Man public the meat plant they deserve’.

Mrs Barber added: ‘This government is committed to maintaining a strong and vibrant agricultural sector, and these changes mark an important step in the ongoing work towards securing the long-term future of the abattoir.’

In a hard-hitting open letter last month, the Manx NFU’s general secretary Sarah Comish said the ‘disastrous impact’ of ‘continued mismanagement’ of the abattoir could no longer be borne by the livestock industry which she said was in an ongoing crisis.

‘The once excellent reputation of Manx meat has all but been destroyed,’ she wrote. ‘Confidence in the plant’s ability to service the industry, the retailers and consumers has now hit rock bottom.’

The MNFU said frequent cancellations and delays have continued to increase at the Meat Plant and reducing intake has forced farmers to either hold stock far longer than they can afford to, or export.

At least one butchers had been forced to order meat from across because they could no longer rely on delivery orders being met.

Successive administrations have attempted to address longstanding issues associated with the plant, which range from financial stability and government subvention levels to operational concerns, such as, maintenance, asset management, and animal welfare.

The loss-making Meat Plant relies on an annual government subvention of about £2m.

Mr Corcoran is a food retail leader with international retail experience and a background in strategic and organisational change.

The other newly appointed directors are Manx butcher Rob Teare, agricultural economist Dr Jonathan Birnie, who wrote a comprehensive report on the abattoir, red meat businessman Philip Birnie and Manx farmer and haulier Andrew McKeown.