Scampi firm nets nearby rival to expand Irish operation

Ireland’s W Middleton & Son (NI), trading as Middleton Seafoods, has acquired Rockall Seafoods, which has a head count of about 60. The two breaded scampi processors are located in Kilkeel Harbour, the main fishing port on the County Down coast in Northern Ireland.

Middleton Seafoods is a subsidiary of Whitby Seafoods, which is located in Whitby, North Yorkshire, employing 140 people.

Jack Cowden, director of Middleton Seafoods, said: “The coming together of the two businesses will improve the competitiveness of Ireland’s scampi processing industry at a time of acute pressure brought about by very high raw material costs and increasing price sensitivity by consumers as a result of the current economic slowdown.”

Whitby Seafoods intends to continue to invest in both Whitby and Northern Ireland in coming years, the firm said. It has invested £4.4m in Kilkeel scampi processing since 2007, alongside a multi-million pound investment programme in its 55,000 sq m scampi factory in Whitby.

Graham Whittle, Whitby Seafoods managing director, said: ”The reason for our increasing investment in Kilkeel is to employ the town’s considerable skills in processing scampi developed over several decades. It is also a great location to employ the town’s considerable skills in processing scampi developed over several decades.

“It is also a great location to procure the valuable and sustainable harvest of scampi by the Northern Irish and Southern Irish fishing fleets.”

Laura Whittle, Whitby Seafoods marketing and sales director, said future investment in Kilkeel “will improve freezing and storage and modernise equipment” to ensure “a first rate scampi processing plant in Kilkeel. She said customers want scampi, but the supply is declining, adding that the company has launched new products combining white fish and scampi, such as Scampi Bites, to tackle this problem.

She said the plan is to increase the distribution of such products.

The company confirmed there were no plans for redundancies, but said that in the current economic climate and with the restructuring that is to take place, some loss of jobs may be inevitable.

Wesley Newell, managing director and shareholder in Rockall Seafoods, will remain in the business, joining Mr Cowden in running the new joint Kilkeel enterprise under the Middleton banner, operating as Middleton Seafoods. The combined business will produce over 5,000 tonnes of scampi, fishcakes, goujons and marinated prawns per year and the project turnover will be over £30m. Whitby Seafoods’ turnover was about £26m.