Seafood village will "save and create jobs" – Fishupdate.com

Seafood village will “save and create jobs” Published:  24 February, 2010

THE decision to award a £1-million European Fisheries Fund grant to the Grimsby Seafood Village project was being hailed today as a move which will save hundreds of jobs and create many new ones. The award now paving the way for a market-leading fish processing centre after more than five years of planning.

Peter Dalton and Gary Cadey, joint managing directors of Grimsby Seafood Village Ltd, were elated by the announcement.

“It is wonderful news and a huge boost for Grimsby’s fish processing industry,” said Peter. His business partner Gary said: “We’re absolutely delighted. It’s been a long road to this point but our patience, determination and belief in the project has paid off. We have £1.4-million funding in place but the grant was needed to ensure the scheme stacked up.”

Peter said: “We hope planning permission can be granted as soon as possible. Once that happens, the contractors are in place to start the build immediately.” It is hoped the first processors will move into the facility before Christmas.

Grimsby Seafood will accommodate up to 40 small to medium-sized companies currently housed in out-dated and inadequate buildings on Grimsby Fish Docks, in an area affectionately as “The Casbah”. More than 25 have already committed to moving into the new facility.

Its first phase will see 20 self-contained units built, each with 2,000sq ft of factory working space plus 1,500 square feet for offices and storage.

A second phase is expected to double the number of units to 40. By combining all units on one site, it is planned to share facilities such as cold stores, a distribution centre and other common fish processes.

Peter said: “We’d like to thank everybody who has supported the scheme and shown faith in us to deliver it.“We know how important it is to the industry and people have been incredibly patient. Now, they will see the rewards.”