Young’s Seafood announces factory closure in Annan
Young’s Seafood has announced that it has chosen to exit Deli and Meals production from its Pinneys site in Annan, Scotland as the production is no longer financially sustainable.
Following a review of its UK operations, the company proposes to move the remaining natural salmon production undertaken at the Pinneys site to Young’s existing natural salmon facility at its Humberstone Road site in Grimsby, UK.
This proposal continues the company’s ‘One Young’s’ strategy in seeking to focus investments on centres of excellence to ensure Young’s is best positioned for future growth in the context of challenging market conditions. As a result of these proposals, Young’s Seafood is proposing to close its Young’s Pinneys site in Annan.
Young’s Seafood will now commence a formal consultation with staff and their representatives at its Young’s Pinneys site as soon as practicable following the election of employee representatives to discuss and consider options.
During the coming months, the company maintains that it will work closely with employee representatives and other appropriate organisations to ensure that it has a meaningful consultation before any decisions are made and that colleagues at Young’s Pinneys have all the information and support they needs.
The proposed site closure will potentially result in the loss of 450 roles from the Young’s Pinneys site before the end of 2018.
Should these proposals be implemented, the company will need to recruit 200 new roles in Grimsby, in addition to recruiting up to 50 roles at its Scampi factory in Annan to support growth. If these proposals go ahead, employees at Young’s Pinneys will be provided with information regarding these new roles and will be given preference over new recruitment.
Bill Showalter CEO of Young’s Seafood, says, “Today’s proposals to close our Young’s Pinneys site does not reflect on the committed and skilled teams at Young’s Pinneys – they are a credit to our company and if these proposals do go ahead we will work hard to maintain the employment of all colleagues throughout this transition.
“We have a long history of seafood production in Annan and whatever the outcome of the consultation we will continue to be a part of the community, given our other factory site within the town.”