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HUGE RELIEF AS ICELAND FISHING CRISIS AVERTED
FROZEN and chilled seafood processors on the Humber are breathing a sigh of relief after a nervous few weeks when it looked as if the Icelandic banking crisis threatened to halt supplies of fish.
The problem surfaced when the UK Government decided to freeze Icelandic assets in the UK after three major banks collapsed and had to be taken over by the Reykjavik Government. This action effectively cut off the savings of thousands of people in Britain and a number of local authorities and other key institutions.
But then the fish trade unexpectedly found itself caught up in the crisis as UK clearing banks refused to authorise payments to Icelandic export and trawler companies for supplies they had received. Both the Grimsby and Hull markets, and a large number of processing companies, depend on Iceland for over 70 per cent of their fish and without it the production lines at many factories would have come to a halt.
Although no-one in Iceland actually threatened to halt shipments, the messages coming from Reykjavik left little room for doubt. Then both the Grimsby Fish Merchants Association and local MP Austin Mitchell enlisted the help of the Bank of England and after a weekend of tense negotiations, the financial arteries were finally unblocked.
Steve Norton, chief executive of the FMA said: "It has been a big relief to all of us. The Grimsby market alone handles 27,000 tonnes of Icelandic chilled fish a year, there was a real danger jobs could have been lost."
Austin Mitchell said: "It would have been disastrous for Grimsby - the market and frozen food factories would have come to a halt and fish and chip shops throughout the north would not have got any fish."
The rescue plan did not go unnoticed in Iceland, where many people were deeply upset because Gordon Brown had used anti-terrorist legislation to freeze that country's assets in Britain.
Sigurdur Sverrisson, head of Corporate Communications at the Federation of Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners, said his members were relieved that the log jam between the Humber ports and Iceland had finally been unblocked.
He added: "Icelanders are shocked, sad and angry that the British Government used their Terrorist Act to force this order. We have been working on a solution and some payments are now starting to come through, but this has caused severe difficulties to the Icelandic fishing companies. Some money was getting through, but other payments had been "lost" in transit."
Mr Sverrisson said that his members did not think the crisis would have a long term impact on the Iceland-British fish business or its friendly relations with the Humber and he hoped things would quickly return to normal.
FROZEN AND CHILLED FIRMS IN UK TOP TEN
THREE of Britain's leading suppliers of frozen foods and chilled fish are in the list of Britain's top ten food companies, according to the latest data.
They are Grimsby based Young's Seafood, the food service giant Brake Brothers, which owns M&J Seafoods, which also has a large base in Grimsby and, of course, Birds Eye Foods.
Birds Eye comes up as number four in the league with annual sales of £1.27-billion. Although the company has closed much of Humber production centres, it still has a frozen vegetable factory in Hull and a major production centre at Great Yarmouth.
The latest data was provided by Jordans Ltd, a leading supplier of business information and corporate service for the Daily Telegraph. It says the fish finger (more likely to be made from Alaskan Pollock today rather than cod or haddock) continues to be the focus of the company's sales. Pre-tax profits were up at £61.9m and this is being attributed to the new management team led by chief executive Martin Glenn and the impact of new ownership by the private equity company Permira, which bought the company from consumer goods giant Unilever for £1.2bn in 2006.
Foodvest, which owns Young's Seafood and Findus in northern Europe, comes in at number five with sales of well over £867-million. Foodvest was acquired by another private equity company, Lion Capital, in a £1.1-billion deal this summer. Young's, which has its head office in Grimsby, is reported to be doing markedly well with retail sales increasing by around 20 per cent this year.
Young's is now firmly established as the leading fish retail brand in Britain and further growth can be expected as its focuses on brand sales.
Brake Brothers is number two on the list with sales of £1.8-billion and is Britain's largest foodservice company, supplying both frozen and chilled products. One of its most dynamic divisions is M&J Seafoods, which has its largest outlet in Grimsby, and is a leading supplier of fish and seafood products to the catering and hotel business.
YOUNGS CHIEF TO RETIRE
JIM Cane, managing director of Young's Seafood, is retiring within the next few months after 35 years in the frozen and chilled food industry..
He has been a senior executive of the company for many years and is regarded as one of the architects behind Young's success in the marketplace and its ascent into one of Britain's leading retail brands. It employs over 2,000 people in Scotland and Grimsby.
The Young's brand now notches up sales of over £300-million a year - they have grown by 20 per cent in the past 12 months alone - and has been a key factor in pushing fish into the food front line. Jim Cane, who was at UB Frozen and Chilled Food, joined the new look Young's in early 2000, and played a leading role in its development and in establishing Foodvest, Young's parent company.
He said: "I made the decision some time ago to retire when the opportunity arose and the recent acquisition of the business by Lion Capital has provided a natural window for me to hand over the reins. I am leaving behind a great team and a business well positioned for the future."
Per Harkjaer, Chief Executive, Foodvest, added: “We will be very sad to see Jim go. He has made a major contribution to the business. I have been aware for some time of his wish to step down when the time is right and I fully understand his decision.
HULL TRAIL SHOWS THE WAY
THE Hull Fishgate market has launched a special traceability trail which, it is hoped, will continue to attract premium supplies and boost prices.
Fishgate said that marketing trials of premium quality wild and farmed seafish have confirmed that a controlled environment along with a computer monitored supply chain are playing a key role in enhancing value.
Test consignments of organic sea trout from QAfish Ltd of Shetland brought in by Atlantic Fresh had made good money and shown excellent quality, preparing the way for a regular seasonable supply in what is a high value niche market.
QAfish director Gordon Johnson said: “We had the impression that Atlantic Fresh and Fishgate concentrated on the prime white fish species, but when we contacted them after viewing their websites we realised their “traceability trail” could offer the logistics link we needed. As we can be almost totally selective in our initial catch, each fish is, in effect, accompanied by its own quality certificate.
He added: "Fishgate experience has shown it can be a valuable ticket at the electronic auction. We are pleased with the £3 - £3.50 per kg fetched by these initial consignments.”
Vince McDonagh - Regular Contributor to Frozen & Chilled Foods magazine