200 jobs ‘to be created’ in Young’s restructuring
INVESTMENT through the Regional Growth Fund has been earmarked as part of a plan to create 200 jobs at Youngs Seafood plants in Grimsby.
The company, which uses a Grimsby seascape on its packaging, has been examining restructuring plans since Sainsbury’s pulled two major contracts in June.
It is partway through consultation with its staff about its plans to close its Scottish sites in Fraserburgh and Spey Valley, with the loss of around 900 jobs.
However the same plans would see 200 jobs created or transferred to sites in Grimsby, Livingston or Annan, and now North East Lincolnshire Council has announced it has secured up to £1.35m from the Regional Growth Fund which could be used to support Young’s investment plans for the town.
It was described as a “very welcome development” by Young’s Seafood’s chief executive Pete Ward, although a final decision can only be made once the consultation period has elapsed, towards the end of this month.
Cllr Ray Oxby, leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, added: “The food and seafood industry is incredibly important to North East Lincolnshire in terms of jobs, companies and reputation and we’ve been working extremely hard behind the scenes to help support Youngs in their projects.
“Locally, more than 5000 people are employed in the sector, and that’s why it’s one of our key focuses for investment support. We said when the announcement was made about Youngs losing a major contract that we would do all we could to provide assistance and give the seafood sector whatever support we’re able to as a local authority to secure jobs in the area.”
