330 jobs on the line at Young’s Seafood
THE loss of a “vital” contract has meant that a potential 330 jobs are at risk at Young’s Seafood factory site in Grimsby.
Sainsbury’s is moving its salmon contracts to a new supplier from November 2015, which could affect the Marsden Road site of Young’s in Grimsby.
According to a spokesman for the union Unite, a Norwegian company that supplies Young’s, Marine Harvest, has offered a deal directly to the supermarket chain.
Two thirds of the workforce of 300 staff and 200 agency workers are at risk of losing their jobs.
Young’s Seafood has three plants in Grimsby employing a total of 2,000 workers.
Pete Ward, Young’s chief executive told the BBC: “Sainsbury’s wished to protect its Scottish salmon sourcing credentials and believed an alternative proposal could better achieve this objective. This alternative proposal also offered Sainsbury’s a dedicated facility.
“It is presently anticipated that the salmon contracts will transfer from Young’s to Sainsbury’s new supplier from November 2015.
“We will be engaging with our employees and other stakeholders to discuss the implications for our business and how we can best position our company to achieve long-term, sustainable growth in the current competitive marketplace.”
Unite regional officer Dave Monaghan said: “This is extremely serious and very worrying news for the workforce at Marsden Road and also for the local economy.
“At present, we are not sure how many jobs will be lost.
“We will be working closely with management in the days and weeks to come to mitigate any job losses. At present, we can’t put a figure on the number of job losses, if any. The worst case scenario would be in the region of 330 jobs lost.
“We will be asking Sainbury’s if Marine Harvest has the ability to provide the processed salmon directly to Sainsbury’s. Young’s Seafood’s facilities in Grimsby are first class and top of the range.”
Unite has also found that the contract loss could also impact on the Young’s Seafood plant in Fraserburgh, Scotland, but the union has no members at the Aberdeenshire site.
