The Scottish Government has met with management at Young’s Seafood in an effort to save the Pinney’s seafood processing plant and keep it in Annan, Scotland, it has been learned.
“We seek to leave no stone unturned in our efforts to retain employment, given the importance of the plant to the economic wellbeing of the community,” Scottish Business Minister, Paul Wheelhouse, said in a statement, adding that his meeting with Young’s had been “constructive”.
Read Young’s Seafood secures salmon deal, fate of processor uncertain
Pinney’s has seen a long list of previous owners, but the plant itself has been a major employer and key hub for processing Scottish salmon. One option for the plant is a co-ownership plan among salmon growers, attracting another processor or scaling back Young’s operation at Pinney’s to salmon-only with salmon-only staff.
The site’s employees have no other large, privately-owned place of work to apply to in the Annan area, so Wheelhouse assured them he’d bring in other agencies to try to help.
“Young’s have provided a detailed insight into those factors underlying the proposal to potentially close the site, and signalled their agreement to work with us, throughout and beyond the forthcoming consultation period with their staff, to explore all viable options, including the prospect of identifying new market opportunities and the potential reconfiguration of the site, to sustain production levels in Annan,” he stated.
