The general manager of Isle of Man Meats has stepped down - just 16 months after taking up the role.

Michael Barker’s departure is the latest senior management change at the arm’s-length government company which runs the loss-making Meat Plant.

Producers have been informed that he has left the organisation, with Miles MacPherson appointed on an interim basis.

Mr Barker was only appointed general manager in April last year when a new senior leadership team was brought in as part of a major management restructure.

Five new non-executive directors were appointed to the board in September 2024, just weeks after the Manx National Farmers’ Union declared it had no confidence in the management of the government-owned and subsidised Meat Plant.

Rebecca Miah stepped down as managing director in December that year.

In April this year, a new board was appointed.

Business Isle of Man chair Steve Pickett took over as chair of Isle of Man Meats from Damien Corcoran, who had been in post since September 2024, having succeeded former Coca-Cola executive Nigel Davis, who was appointed in July 2023.

Mr Pickett joined existing directors Philip Birnie and Andrew McKeown, alongside newly appointed director David Bradford.

Changes to the senior management delayed publication of the 2024-25 accounts, which show the abattoir’s operating loss before subvention increased during that period from £4.024m to £4.764m.

The government subsidy rose from £4,036,031 in 2024 to £4,771,876 in 2025.

In a hard-hitting open letter published in August 2024, Manx NFU general secretary Sarah Comish said the ‘disastrous impact’ of ‘continued mismanagement’ of the abattoir could no longer be borne by the livestock industry - and confidence in the abattoir had hit ‘rock bottom’.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that annual payments to Isle of Man Meats board members had more than tripled since 2023, from £70,000 to more than £250,000 - prompting the Isle of Man Fatstock Marketing Association to express its ‘dismay and shock’.

Up to 2023, payments were largely handled through standard payroll at a flat rate of £7,000 a year, but subsequent years saw a move towards daily rates of up to £550 for the chair and the use of private company invoices.

The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture said those additional payments to the board have now ceased, with directors remunerated by the company in line with their board responsibilities.

DEFA wants to draw up a three-year plan to reduce the subvention paid to the Meat Plant.

An external audit carried out in 2022 concluded that the abattoir displayed an ‘overall malaise’ and identified multiple problems which would take an extended period to resolve.

It found that the sales model was fundamentally flawed, the pace of operation at the plant was much too slow and adherence to regulation was poor.

Since then, successive management teams have claimed progress towards turning around the abattoir’s performance.