Marine equipment company Gael Force will create 20 new jobs in the north of Scotland after agreeing a £2.5million deal with one of the country’s biggest salmon producers.
Gael Force yesterday said it had agreed to build three new 200-tonne feed barges for the Scottish Salmon Company (SSC), which is headquartered in Edinburgh.
Gael Force managing director Stewart Graham said his staff are “working at full capacity” and that the deal means more recruits are needed at the firm’s facilities in Inverness and Forres.
The recruitment drive will take Gael Forces’ overall headcount to 200, an all-time high.
Gael Force has already filled a number of posts in production and design, but is still on the lookout for welders, fabricators, pipefitters and concrete operatives.
And more barge-building work could be just round the corner if SSC extends the deal into a second phase.
Gael Force said the deal is open-ended, giving SSC the option to ask for another three once the initial trio is delivered in August.
Gael Force describes the barges as floating operational bases for fish farms that can operate in almost any weather.
They are fitted-out with feed silos, living quarters, computer-controlled feed systems and generators.
Gael Force managing director Stewart Graham said the deal keeps the company on track to boost its sales to £50million over a four-year period, and described it as “a huge vote of confidence” in his company’s workforce.
The firm, which makes fish farm equipment for clients in Scotland, Ireland, Spain, the Faroe Islands and Norway, also has bases in Stornoway, Glasgow and Plymouth.
Scottish Environment Minister Aileen McLeod said: “This investment is great news for the aquaculture sector in the Outer Hebrides and will create jobs for the local area.
“The industry is a major contributor to the economy of Scotland as a whole, and the Highlands and Islands in particular, and this deal between the Scottish Salmon Company and Gael Force Group will help sustain and grow the industry in the area.”
SSC’s managing director Craig Anderson said the deal reinforced the firm’s commitment to “developing long-term partnerships” with local suppliers.
“We are committed to the economic growth of rural Scotland and to the local communities where our staff live and work,” he added.
SSC, which employs about 480 people at 60 sites across the Highlands and islands, produces about 20% of total Scottish salmon.