Seafood village on course for November opening – Fishupdate.com
Seafood village on course for November opening Published: 11 July, 2011
GRIMSBY’S new £3-million seafood village is moving ahead at a rapid rate, with completion expected by late autumn, the directors report.
And it is already attracting inquiries from Europe and other ports in the UK.After months of complicated surface work to get the ground in shape, the steel outer structure is now taking shape.
The site itself has bee raised three feet, while 360 piles have been sunk over 70 feet into the ground in order the take the weight of the buildings.
Garry Cadey, joint managing director of the Grimsby Seafood Village Company, told Fishupdate: “For a long time it has looked as is very little was happening, but this is because we have had to get the ground ready.That has been done – and people can now see that we are moving ahead.”
Twenty modern units, each with 2,000 square feet of workspace and 1,300 square feet of offices above, are being built on a modern and secure business park on the edge of Grimsby Fish Docks. The first will be ready for occupation by November.
A few of the units may be divided in two to accommodate the smaller sized fish merchants businesses.
There will also be other separate offices, a canteen, and a shop on site. Showers and toilets are being provided for the lorry drivers who have to travel long distances to bring and collect fish.
Inquiries are coming in from other parts of the country and the seafood village is being promoted as far afield as Billingsgate Fish Market in London and around the main Scottish ports. The directors on the Grimsby Seafood Village board are hoping that some of the Hull fish merchants will take advantage of the new units now that Iceland no longer uses the Hull Fishgate market to auction fish.
“This is going to be one of the most modern one stop seafood villages anywhere,” he said.”There is everything a fish processor needs a recycling centre, a place where fish offal can be sent and stores, and the very latest in fully clad fish processing units. Even our electricity is 30 per cent cheaper than that charged to users on the main fish dock area. This is because we are able to negotiate with alternative suppliers.Fish is an expensive commodity and it is only right that it should be handled in the very best conditions.”
Peter Dalton, the other joint managing director of Grimsby Seafood Village Ltd, said: “”This is a huge step in the regeneration of Grimsby Fish Docks. We are creating something of which the town can be proud – something fit for the 21st century.
“This also secures the future of Grimsby as the country’s main fish processing sector, especially after what has happened in Hull recently. I do hope that some of the Hull fish merchants will consider relocating here, because I think it will help their businesses.”
The project was made possible thanks to a £3-million grant from the European Fisheries Fund.