Retail fish supplier Seachill UK is seeking to expand one of its Grimsby plants to mirror increasing business wins.
The company, which was acquired by Tesco meat packer Hilton Food Group last year, has applied for planning permission to extend its Laforey Road plant from 11,149 sq. meters to 16,821 sq. meters, an increase of 50%, according to the publicly available documents.
It already uses its Laforey Road for chilled salmon and whitefish for the UK’s largest retailer, Tescos and high-end retailer Waitrose.
The area earmarked for the new build was formerly owned by Ocean Bounty, a seafood company that has now moved to the Grimsby Seafood Village.
The architect for the proposed project, KD Design, wrote on the plans: “The site constantly innovates and invests in new equipment to stay ahead in a competitive market. The site has been able to acquire the former Ocean Bounty site to enable further growth.”
Staff numbers will increase from 850 to 930, according to the plans.
Seachill’s expansion follows on the heels of the UK’s largest food processor, Young’s Seafood move to buy an unused plant in Grimsby, according to undercurrentnews.com
Young’s will also move its natural salmon operation for high-end retailer Marks & Spencer, M&S and other productions from its doomed Pinneys plant in Annan, Scotland to Grimsby.
Young’s announced it is to close production at Pinneys last month claiming the site was no longer “financially sustainable”.
The company confirmed that the site would close by the end of the year with the loss of hundreds of jobs but said it would continue to meet staff for talks to discuss “ongoing items”, including redeployment.
Young’s said it will need to recruit 200 new roles in Grimsby.
