Young’s Seafood will move ahead with its plan to close its Pinneys processing facility in Anna, Scotland, it confirmed in an email on 31 May.
Young’s first announced the decision in April in conjunction with a decision to increase its operations at its Humberstone Road plant near its headquarters in Grimsby, England. The company entered into consultation with its employees and their representation on 16 April, but the process did not result in any alteration’s to the company’s original plan, a spokesperson for Young’s Seafood Limited said in an email to SeafoodSource.
“Unfortunately, having explored this in detail for some time and despite the consultation process, we have not been able to agree any viable alternatives to the closure of the Pinneys site. Accordingly, the [c]ompany now intends to progress with its initial proposals,” the spokesperson said. “The decision to close the Pinneys site does not mean that collective consultation has ended. We intend to continue to meet with employee representatives on a fortnightly basis to discuss ongoing items, including redeployment opportunities.”
The closure of the Pinneys plant will take place by the end of 2018, the spokesperson confirmed. The move will result in the layoffs of 450 workers at the Pinneys site in Annan, but the company will open 200 new jobs in Grimsby to handle increased seafood production there, and 50 additional jobs at its scampi factory in Annan.
“Our dedicated, skilled teams at Pinneys are a credit to our [c]ompany and we will work hard to maintain the employment of our colleagues wherever possible. We have a long history of seafood production in Annan and, given that we have another factory in the town where we are a significant employer, we are committed to continuing to play a role in the local community,” the Young’s spokesperson said.
The spokesperson did not address whether or how the looming sale of the company might affect its workers.
Photo courtesy of Save Pinneys of Annan
