Economic Recovery Plan For Fraserburgh Produced By Taskforce
An economic recovery plan is to be produced to support about 650 workers who are losing their jobs at two seafood factories.
Young's Seafood initially considered closing its Fraserburgh plant and Grantown-on-Spey smokehouse after the loss of a £100 million contract with Sainsbury's earlier this year.
Management then decided both sites will remain open but the workforce will be reduced from 900 to about 250.
The Fraserburgh taskforce held its first meeting today and agreed to work to secure alternative employment for affected workers and to continue to work with Young's to find alternative markets and secure further efficiencies.
The economic recovery plan will also consider how to create sustainable employment in the longer-term to mitigate the impact on Fraserburgh and surrounding communities.
The Fraserburgh taskforce includes representatives of Young's, the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw), Scottish Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council, local elected representatives and industry bodies.
Business minister Fergus Ewing, who chaired the meeting, said: "Young's Seafood has taken its decision and we are doing everything possible to support the workers and mitigate the impact on the town and the wider area.
"We are helping affected employees through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (Pace).
"Through providing skills development and employability support, Pace will aim to minimise the time individuals affected by redundancy are out of work.
"Since Young's first announced its plans, there has also been a significant amount of work led by Scottish Enterprise to help the company find efficiencies and explore new markets, which could lead to reduced costs and new contracts, aiding the future viability of the factory.''
Young's has said it will continue to consult with employee representatives on the exact number and phasing of redundancies, with the majority likely to take place in early 2016.
Dominic Kerrigan, board director of Young's Seafood, said: "Following extensive review and engagement with all interested stakeholders, we confirmed last week the decision to keep open our Fraserburgh Watermill Road and Grantown-on-Spey facilities. This followed the decision by a major customer to transfer some of their business to a Rosyth-based supplier.
"Today's meeting was constructive and we are committed to working with the Scottish Government, and all other stakeholders on the taskforce to deliver the best possible support for our employees and the local community.''