Young's Seafood

After a meeting with Young's Seafood, Business Minister Paul Wheelhouse said: 

“Following on from the very disappointing news that emerged from Young’s Seafood, regarding their Pinney’s seafood processing plant in Annan, I have had a constructive discussions with both the management at Young’s and the leadership of Dumfries and Galloway Council. 

“I confirmed that the Scottish Government, our agencies and other local stakeholders are all committed to working in partnership with Young’s to explore any potential options to retain production at the site and safeguard as many jobs as possible. 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. 

“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.

“While this will clearly be a very worrying time for Young’s employees, their families and the wider community, I want to assure all those who are affected by this that we are committed to doing everything we can to find a viable solution.  Furthermore, we will convene a meeting later this week with our partners at Dumfries and Galloway Council and other partner enterprise and skills agencies to map out the next steps in our efforts to try to save jobs at Pinney’s and to ensure we work together, as a team, in the best interests of the people of Annan.”