Grimsby has long been synonymous with the fishing industry but nowadays there is much more to Britain’s biggest seaport. The town and surrounding area have become home to an array of food and food-related enterprises touching on virtually everything that can be eaten.
The council is now particularly anxious that within its area there should be more companies dealing specifically in fresh produce. While fish and fish processing remain all-important aspects of the district’s booming economy, diversification is now key to its success.
Fresh produce companies already exist in and around Grimsby, but they are very much in the minority. One of the council’s team of economic development officers Andrew Moore explains: ‘’With so many of our local companies now into production of ready meals, for both the fresh and frozen markets, it is felt imperative to offer them the fresh produce they need for their recipes on their doorstep as it were.’’
The push is on to persuade more fresh produce businesses that Grimsby is the right spot for them. And the council’s campaign is likely to be given a big shot in the arm soon with the announcement of another leading food name heading to North East Lincolnshire to establish its base there. ‘’When this deal is announced we expect it to lead to a host of other similar companies clamouring to join the rush to the district,’’ says Moore.
North East Lincolnshire has reaped many successes in the last couple of decades and the deals the authority has set up for them in terms of financial incentives, industrial sites, planning consents, workers and general infrastructure have all brought their rewards, particularly when they have been put together to form a package which few if any other areas in the UK can rival.
It is this kind of offering which has seen big names like Young’s Bluecrest, Birds Eye Wall’s, Heinz and Baxters all set up in the area alongside a host of other companies. Partnership working, with the council operating alongside the likes of Yorkshire Forward, the Humber Institute of Food and Fisheries and the Humber Seafood Group, has helped too. They and others remain prepared to join the council’s food foray, primarily by displaying at showcase events both at home and on the European mainland - and it is this mission that is now aimed primarily, though not solely, at the fresh produce sector.
The country’s top six food processors are already in North East Lincolnshire but the council insists there is room for more of the same to add to the growing list of food and food-related undertakings. At the last count they mustered a turnover of some £2.3 billion a year between them, just one of a number of striking statistics supporting the council’s come and join us case.
Grimsby accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the UK’s fish processing economy with one company, the giant Young’s Bluecrest which employs more than 2,000 staff and lays claim to the title of Europe’s biggest seafood company, having a 40 per cent market share.
Grimsby has more than 10,000 people employed directly in the food manufacturing industry with in excess of another 20,000 holding jobs indirectly related to food production. The area boasts 45.98 million cubic feet of public cold storage, including the 18.72m cubic feet, state-of-the-art regional consolidation centre which can hold 35,000 pallets.
North East Lincolnshire also benefits from having the right kind of land, buildings and infrastructure available.
The hugely successful Europarc benefits from easy access via the A180/M180 link to the M1 and M62 and onwards across the motorway and trunk road network of the country, making it possible for the Europarc to reach up to 75 per cent of the UK - and a total population of 170m European customers - by road, rail and sea freight within 24 hours.
North East Lincolnshire has a workforce that is well used to flexible working patterns and 24-hour shift systems, which has proved time and again that it is skilled, loyal and efficient. More than 90,000 workers live within a 15-minute journey 350,000 just 45 minutes away. Moore also points to the area’s excellent labour relations and safety record as being among the other positives for a move into his area.
Yorkshire Forward, through its Selective Finance for Investment (SFI) initiative has discretionary grants available for businesses looking to invest in an Assisted Area like North East Lincolnshire. These grants can be as high as 15 per cent of the cost of a new factory, although circumstances will vary from company to company. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) uses European Union money to make another grant of up to 15 per cent available in some cases.
Moore continues: “For the right companies, it could mean almost a third of their building costs being covered by a grant. And when you consider that there are also grants which can cover up to 50 per cent of the cost of IT equipment then the financial incentives to come to North East Lincolnshire, on top of all the rest the area has going for it, must have a great deal of appeal to the fresh produce sector.’’
Time is of the essence as some of the money, particularly EU aid which is set to be channelled into poorer countries following the union’s enlargement will be faded out.
‘’We have achieved a lot but we want the major part of that achievement to be the success of the individual companies who have moved in with us. And we want more to join them in a successful operation.”
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