UK government helped consolidate jobs in Grimsby - years before Scottish plant closure.

It has emerged the UK Government helped Young's protect jobs at Grimsby, where work will be relocated once the seafood company closes its Pinneys factory in Annan.

We have discovered North East Lincolnshire Council papers from 2015 which reveal the firm was given a £1.3million grant to safeguard jobs at the English site.

The funding, which was provided by the then UK Government Department for Business, Innovation and Skills was awarded to Young’s Seafood after a successful application to the “Developing the UK’s Leading Food Manufacturing Cluster in Greater Lincolnshire.”

Councillors there were recommended to agree to the plan as it would protect the 250 employees it employed at the site in 2015 and would also lead to the creation of 200 jobs at the Young’s sites in Grimsby.

Earlier this year the company announced plans to move production from Annan, where 450 people work, to the English seaside town.

The plans were confirmed last week following a consultation period.

South Scotland Labour MSP Colin Smyth said, “It is clear that as long ago as 2015, Young’s had decided to consolidate their operations in the north of England and the successful application to this UK Government fund has swayed their decision to retain their full operations in Grimsby rather than at Pinney’s.

"At the time of this decision David Mundell had recently been appointed to the UK Government Cabinet and must now explain why his Government moved to secure jobs in Grimsby but not in Annan. It also raises the question – did he know jobs were under threat at Pinney’s as far back as 2015?

"The Scottish Government must also explain what they knew about the state of Young’s Seafood Limited and about the decisions the company would take. The Scottish Government have agencies such as Scottish Enterprise to ensure that large employers remain successful but also to monitor those companies in difficulty.

"This revelation shows that Young’s has been struggling for some time which the U.K. and Scottish Government must have been aware of, yet neither provided any major funding to retain jobs in Annan.”

He will now write to David Mundell, local MP and Secretary of State for Scotland, Keith Brown MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Jobs, Economy and Fair Work for an explanation on the development.