A new operator of the meat plant could be in place before the end of the year.

That’s the hope of the Department for Environment, Food and Agriculture, after the deadline for tender bids passed.

It says it received ’a number’ of bids to run the plant at Tromode, that has had to rely on taxpayer funding to survive but Agriculture Minister Geoffrey Boot is keeping tight-lipped saying it would be inappropriate to comment on the process now that bidding has closed. The next stage will be a review of the bids to see if they met the standards DEFA is hoping to achieve.

At present, the plant is run by Isle of Man Meats, the trading name for the Fatstock Marketing Association (FMA), but it has required a government subvention, which rose to more than £1.3m last year.

The government is hoping a private operator would make the plant more efficient, although Mr Boot has previously stated the FMA - a co-operative of about 400 farmers who supply the plant - would be entitled to submit a bid to continue to operate the plant.

While the process of choosing a new operator continues, the department is committed to continuing to provide financial support for the plant.

Earlier this year, Mr Boot told the House of Keys that, if the FMA wanted to continue to operate the plant, there would be ’changes required’.

The decision to begin the search for a private operator was confirmed in February, against a backdrop of increasing live exports and a decrease in local sales of Manx meat.

In the summer, Shoprite called for a public inquiry into why farmers were choosing to export their beasts for slaughter rather than use the meat plant.

The supermarket chain claimed it had ’reluctantly’ taken the decision to increase the amount of imported meat it sold because it could no longer guarantee consistent supply of local meat.

Chief executive Andrew Thomas said at the time: ’In recent months we have been forced to buy an increasing amount of non-Manx meat because the orders we placed locally could not be fulfilled to agreed specification.’

He said a public inquiry should look at why subsidies were being paid to producers in the island, yet residents did not have the option to buy local, fresh meat as it was being exported off-island.

But Isle of Man Meats (FMA) accused Shoprite of being ’disingenuous’ and trying to protect its margins. Interim general manager Mr Macpherson countered: ’At no stage were we in a position to say we could not supply them.’

He argued very few finished cattle and only a small proportion of sheep were exported for slaughter. A number of farmers were, however, choosing to export cattle for finishing.