Abattoir closes amid rising costs

THE McGillivray Abattoir has been part of the Gunbower community for more than six decades — but has closed its doors for good as another family-run business bites the dust.

Jack McGillivray has been running the business for the last 10 years with his mum Gwen and he said decreasing margins, increasing government red tape, expensive stock and changing dietary patterns all contributed to the decision.

“Closing our family-owned business has been one of the hardest things I have had to do but I have been pouring money into the business for the last couple of years and I am in a sinking boat. I can still see the bank so I have decided to swim for the shore while I still can,” Jack said.

“I feel like I am letting a lot of people down, including my employees. I have the oldest working crew in the industry (if you take out one employee who is 27) ranging from 54 to 62 and our work certainly isn’t an old man’s sport, but at the end of the day, you can’t run a business and keep losing money.

“I think I let loyalty and pride get in the way and the final straw came when I could no longer get someone to pick up my offal — that was it.”

Jack estimates it costs his small business annually $50,000 in government fees, including licences, audits and WorkCover.

He has to deal with PrimeSafe, Bureau of Statistics, EPA, DPI and the National Livestock Identification System (ear tags).

He does an hour of bookwork each morning before he even slaughters an animal and power costs have skyrocketed to around $10,000 a month.

“I can’t compete against the supermarkets,’’ he said.

‘‘They can subsidise their costs against other things but I have nothing and when you are paying $2800 for a bullock there is just no money in it for the small operator. I can’t sell for profit any more.”

The business will continue to process carcases, they will just be slaughtered off site.

“The Gunbower butcher shop will continue to operate and outsiders can still drop animals in to us to be processed,’’ Jack said.

‘‘We can organise delivery to Echuca.”

The Gunbower Abattoirs was started in the 1950s by GK McGillivray (otherwise known as ‘‘Sar’’). It was officially opened in 1975 as a slaughter house.

During its peak in the ‘80s and ‘90s, it employed more than 20 workers, trucked meat daily to Melbourne and processed thousands of sheep and cattle weekly.

“It’s the end of a dynasty or a dinosaur, it depends which way you look at it,” Jack said.