Cumbrian fish processor bought by Polish firm
WEST Cumbrian fish processing company Brookside Products has been sold to Polish fish processing company Morpol ASA in a deal which could eventually be worth up to £1m.
Brookside is a producer of smoked salmon whose clients include the Co-Operative Group. Italso has a license to produce salmon under the John West brand. It has a turnover of around £12m and handles around 1.5 tonnes of fish a year – around 10% of the market.
The Maryport-based company was set up in 1987 and was owned by managing director John Heywood and his family. Morpol is paying an element of cash upfront with the remaining consideration based on future performance targets.
Morpol CEO Jerzey Malek said: “Through the combination of recent farming acquisitions in Scotland and this important step into smoked salmon processing within the UK, we now have an excellent base where we can further penetrate not only the UK market, but also other European markets.”
The Morpol Group was formed in 1996 at Ustka on Poland’s Baltic coast. It now employs more than 3,000 staff in eight countries and has a turnover of €340m.
