Speculation is mounting that Morrisons could bid for the Hall’s of Broxburn site following last week’s shock announcement that current owner Vion was seeking to close the site because it was losing £79,000 a day there.

Hall’s is a major processing site for Scottish pork, with 8,000 pigs going through the facility each week to produce products such as haggis, sausages and black pudding. There is also an abattoir on site.

The site was likely to be of major interest to Morrisons given the retailer’s ongoing investment in buying manufacturing facilities, said one source. “A Morrisons bid could be an interesting one because that fits with their model of vertical integration.”

A second source pointed out Morrisons had existing beef and lamb processing facilities in Scotland, which would provide a supply chain blueprint if it decided to go into pork processing at Hall’s. Morrisons already has a beef and lamb abattoir in Aberdeenshire, but kills pigs at its English sites in Colne, Lancashire, and Spalding in Lincolnshire.

The retailer sees pork as a meat that holds increased sales potential. In March, it announced an increase in capacity of 6,000 extra pigs a week at Colne, increasing capacity at the site to 31,000 pigs a week.

However, both sources suggested Morrisons was unlikely to rush into a deal and would potentially look to cherry-pick parts of the site - especially the abattoir - rather than buying Hall’s outright. “If Vion, after pumping in millions of pounds, couldn’t make it work then I can’t think that anyone else could,” said one source.

A Morrisons spokesman said it did not comment on speculation regarding potential acquisitions.

In February, Morrisons bought a pork and lamb retail packing facility in Winsford, Cheshire from Vion UK.

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