The Uddingston plant of Dawnfresh Seafoods is to close with a loss of over 230 jobs.
One of the UK’s largest producers of fish and seafood, has announced that the company has today begun a 45-day consultation with staff.
It is understood they now plan an investment of £5m to expand their current site in Arbroath, with the Uddingston site planned to close in mid-2022.
Dawnfresh currently has 230 permanent production staff in Uddingston and 180 in Arbroath. The firm say there will be 150 new permanent production staff in Angus under new plans, available for permanent or agency staff in Uddingston to apply for.
They also claim that any reduction in overall headcount is likely to result from people choosing not to apply for a new role and a slimmed down management structure. No current jobs in Arbroath are at risk under the plans.
Raleigh Salvesen, managing director, Dawnfresh Seafoods, said: "For the remainder of this year and until the move next year, our operations at Uddingston will very much continue as normal.
"The plan to expand facilities at Arbroath will provide a platform for future growth and help Dawnfresh to adapt to a changing and highly competitive business sector. This move is critical if we are to meet our objective of keeping seafood production jobs in Scotland.
“It will be sad to close our factory in Uddingston but we are incentivising our team to join us on this journey and hope many of our experienced and skilled staff join us in Arbroath."
A Scottish-owned family company that produces 10,000 tonnes of seafood a year for food service and retail both within the UK and internationally, Dawnfresh manages a number of farming sites across Scotland with currently the two specialised production facilities in Arbroath and Uddingston which handle over 350 fresh, frozen, marinated, smoked and other seafood lines.
Garry Price, supply chain director at Dawnfresh, added: "Our staff are our most valuable resource, and we are encouraging as many of our skilled food production team as possible to make this journey with us next year. We are encouraging all of our production staff, including our temporary agency staff, to apply for one of the positions in Angus."
For those who do not wish to make the move the company say they are engaging with employees, unions, skills agencies and North and South Lanarkshire Councils to help people find new jobs in the area. The company is also seeking to work with government and other agencies to find an alternative use of the current site in Uddingston to retain employment in the area.