Located 1½ miles (2.5 km) northwest of Kintore and 2 miles (3 km) south of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, Thainstone is an auction mart and agricultural business centre, the flagship of three owned and operated by Aberdeen and Northern Marts, which also runs facilities in Elgin and Quoybrae (Caithness). Opened in 1990, on the estate of Thainstone House, this was the largest livestock market in Europe, designed by architects Jenkins & Marr.
Facilities include three purpose-built auction rings, a large exhibition hall, covered accommodation for 3000 cattle or 14,000 sheep, together with shops, offices and restaurant around a central meeting atrium. Also located here are offices of the National Farmers' Union of Scotland, Scotland's Rural College and the Scottish Government Rural Affairs Department, as well as banks, legal and accountancy practices, animal feed suppliers, animal health specialists and agricultural machinery companies. The North of Scotland Agricultural Show is held here annually, while the BBC television series The Mart documented the people, their lives and work at Thainstone during 2015.
Aberdeen and Northern Marts is the largest farmer-owned livestock auction company in Europe with annual sales exceeding £80 million and handling more than 100,000 store, prime and breeding cattle every year. Friday is the principal market day here, with weekly sales of store and breeding cattle and sheep.
