Fife nets hundreds of jobs with massive new fish factory

Business Editor, Sunday Herald

Sunday 12 June 2011

Several hundred jobs are to be created in Rosyth after the world's largest fish processor, Morpol, acquired the former Lexmark building in Admiralty Park, the Sunday Herald has learned.

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Norwegians strengthen grip on UK salmon industry with Rosyth plant By Colin Donald

The Norwegian firm, which trades in the UK as Lakeland Smolt Ltd, bought the former computer printer plant in March for €4.2 million (£3.7 million). The firm said its intention is “to establish a large-scale, value-added processing plant, which will contribute to the expansion of its market strength in the UK and other regions”. A UK spokesman said that its full plans for the site, and prospective vacancies, will be unveiled after “community consultations”.

Inward investment agency Scottish Development International confirmed its involvement in the deal but declined to give details. Morpol, which employs 3000 people worldwide in fish farming as well as processing, made €6m in profits in the first quarter of this year, boosted by a surge in wholesale salmon prices, and is on a global expansion drive. The re-purposing of one of Fife’s most conspicuous empty buildinga, built in 1996, will be a significant morale boost for the local economy. It is also an implicit vote of confidence in plans to relieve chronic congestion on the Forth “corridor” through the new £2 billion Forth Bridge. Alan Russell, chief executive of Fife Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the development, saying: “These will be good-quality jobs in Rosyth, an area with high levels of unemployment. “It is testament to the skills and infrastructure of Fife that the area has been chosen for another significant inward investment following those by Amazon in Dunfermline, Diageo in Leven and all the work going on at the Fife Energy Park.”The closure of US-based Lexmark in 2007, after only 10 years and more than £11m in public subsidies from the Scottish Executive and Scottish Enterprise, resulted in the sudden loss of 700 jobs and was described at the time as the “worst jobs blow to hit west Fife since the miners’ strike”. The Lexmark building was sold to Morpol by Soltice Property, a special-purpose vehicle set up in November 2010 to facilitate the acquisition and redevelopment of the building by London-based firms, Allied Commercial Exporters and Capital & Provincial Property Company.C&P director Michael Saunders said: “The building had been vacant for a number of years, and we recognised a rare opportunity to acquire a high-profile, good-quality specification and flexible building in a superb location. There is a growing demand driven by the numerous projects such as the new bridge contracts which are attracting new investment into the area.”“Our intention was to reconfigure the building layouts, but Morpol approached us on the basis that the building was an excellent fit for their business and its strategic location worked well with their other Scottish operations.”Morpol was founded in 1996 and is chaired by a former Norwegian government minister. The company is closely allied with compatriot suppliers Marine Harvest and processor Royal Greenland.The company is a symbol of Norway’s aggressive domination of the fast-growing global salmon industry. According to the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation, this includes ownership of the production of 80% of what is sold as “Scottish salmon”. After acquiring Europe’s leading salmon processor, the Laschinger Group in Germany, in 2007, the firm has opened subsidiaries in Japan, the UK, France, the US, and Italy. Growth in demand and sales success enabled Morpol to expand its processing operations by 50% in 2010. The company, which claims to be “significantly larger than our nearest competitor”, is “assessing opportunities in other countries where smoked salmon and related products have an attractive potential”. In the first quarter of 2011 Morpol reported pre-tax profits of €6.2m compared to €5.2m in the same quarter of 2010.

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Fife nets hundreds of jobs with massive new fish factory

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