The Border Laird factory has been sold to Tyneside-based Moir Seafoods, which is now planning to recruit staff to work at the factory.
Sir Alan Beith, Liberal Democrat MP for Berwick, told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “I welcome the news that Moir Seafoods has bought the Border Laird premises in Amble. Discussions with the new owners proved very promising and I hope employment will be available very soon.”
Paul Dowse, owner and director of Moir Seafoods, estimated that the new site would be open by the end of this week, pending the approval of the environmental health certificate.
The company already has a plant in North Shields but needs further space to expand its production.
It plans to use the Border Laird site to process crab, langoustine and scallops – some raw and some cooked.
New jobs
Moir Seafoods was unable to confirm the number of jobs that would be created.
The Border Laird factory employed 79 staff to process fish cakes and langoustine.
Young’s Seafood bought the factory out of administration in December 2011. Then, in March 2012, it announced it would be moving production to its site in Grimsby.
Company consolidation
It said the move was part of the company’s “consolidation of its manufacturing footprint”.
The decision followed the discovery of serious product quality problems in the fish cakes produced at the site, as reported in FoodManufacture.co.uk.
In a company statement, Pete Ward, chief operating officer of Young’s Seafood, said: “We explored all options in detail, including retaining the business, transferring the volume into Young’s facilities, and selling the business as a going concern but unfortunately no financially viable option was found for the site moving forward.”
Beith said: “Amble has been through some tough times with the loss of jobs at Northumberland Foods and Border Laird and I will continue to do everything I can to encourage businesses to come to the town and create much-needed work.”