Scottish Sea Farms spend reaches record £100 Mn

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Suppliers count benefits of Scottish Sea Farms’ “buy-Scottish” policy

Scottish Sea Farms said at the weekend that it spent a record GBP 100 million in 2017 buying goods and services from the Scottish supply chain, and some GBP 85 million of that was spent in the west of Scotland.

The company operates 46 farm sites and two processing plants and employs 449 people. “Many” of the company’s suppliers are described as “small and medium-sized enterprises”.

Like others these days, Scottish Sea Farms said it’s “buying Scottish” when possible, and the result is a GBP 13.9 million hike in spending over 2016.

Resources swap
“The communities in which we farm are integral to our success, from their natural resources to their local workforces and businesses. It seems only fitting therefore that these same communities should derive maximum value in return, said Scottish Sea Farms’ managing Director, Jim Gallagher.

He confirmed the company grew again in 2017 and bought goods and services from 709 suppliers across Scotland. The money was mostly invested in “feed, nutrition and ensuring optimum fish health, followed by construction of an innovative new freshwater facility at Barcaldine, near Oban”.

In all, the grower spent on average GBP 141,474 per Scotland-based supplier. One of those benefitting was local supplier, Gael Force, headquartered in Inverness: it saw an increase in turnover of close to 45 percent in 2017 and added 50 new jobs.

Jobs
Stewart Graham, managing director of Gael Force, said most of his growth came from aquaculture orders. It’s the ongoing support of companies such as Scottish Sea Farms that has propelled us on to develop new innovative technologies and services, something we will continue to do in 2018 with a planned GBP 1 million investment in increased capacity and the development of new products.”

The buy-Scottish procurement policy has also helped southern net maker W&J Knox in Kilbirnie, Ayrshire. Company chairman, Jim Traynor, said Scottish Sea Farms contracts alone helped keep 63 jobs.

Fusion Marine, near Oban, said it, too, count a GBP 1 million order from Scottish Sea Farms for new fish farm pens.

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