Fraserburgh Jobs At Risk After Seafood Company Loses Contract

A seafood company has lost a contract with supermarket giant Sainsbury's, which union officials warned could lead to the loss of over 300 jobs.

Young's Seafood said it will now discuss the implications, with its factories in Grimsby and Fraserburgh, Scotland expected to be hit.

Unite said the loss of the fresh and smoked salmon contract was extremely serious''.

Pete Ward, the company's chief executive, said: "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 a dedicated facility.

"Sainsbury's remains an important customer for Young's and we will continue to work together in other categories to deliver great fish and seafood products to Sainsbury's customers. 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 market place.

As we move forward, exploring a number of new business opportunities, our focus continues to be on serving our customers and consumers and on our commitment to providing high quality, good value, fish and seafood.''

Dave Monaghan of Unite, which has members at the Grimsby site, said it was worrying news for the workers and the local economy.

"We will be working closely with management in the days and weeks to come to mitigate any job losses.''