A Highland town has been dealt its second major economic blow within weeks with news that a local factory could close.
Workers at the Spey Valley Smokehouse at Grantown face an uncertain future after parent company Young’s Seafood Ltd lost a major contract to process fish for supermarket giant Sainbury’s.
The 24 workers at the Strathspey factory were given the bad news yesterday.
About 900 jobs at Young’s site in Fraserburgh are also under threat.
The company said that the two Scottish sites were “significantly under-utilised” and that about 200 jobs would be transferred or created at its factories at Grimsby, Livingston and Annan.
Yesterday, politicians from the affected towns including MSP Fergus Ewing and MP Drew Hendry held crisis talks via a conference call as the news broke.
The announcement was made just weeks after another major Grantown employer went into liquidation, leaving a £1million hole in the local economy.
More than 30 workers at McLeod Building Ltd were made redundant in May when the family-owned company collapsed.
The Spey Valley Smokehouse on the outskirts of the town uses traditional methods to smoke salmon.
Badenoch and Strathspey councillor Bill Lobban said last night: “Between this and McLeod Building, it has not been a good time for Grantown.
“It is extremely concerning for the economy of Grantown. This is a difficult time for the employees and their families.
“The council and others need to do everything possible to alleviate the circumstances.
“It is very disappointing.”
One employee, Cristina Faria, 51, who came from Portugal to work at the smokehouse said: “It’s a terrible thing that the factory could close but we are living with it everywhere in Europe.
“Everybody feels worried about it but I am still hoping that things will work out.
“I have been here four weeks and came first to do an induction in Fraserburgh and then came here.
“If it closes they will possibly want me to move to another site. I am going to try everything to stay up here as I have met the people and started to settle. I enjoy the life here and would feel very sad if I had to move.”
Another employee said: “I am confident that we will get another contract. It is a great site and a great set of workers who deserve to keep their jobs.”
Marine Harvest, which already supplies salmon to the Spey Valley Smokehouse, has won the £100million contract to supply salmon to Sainsbury’s and plans to create 260 jobs by expanding its factory at Rosyth.
Scottish Government Business Minister Mr Ewing said last night: “This news will come as a blow to the workers and communities concerned and the Scottish Government is working with the company and key partners, including Scottish Enterprise.
“The workers at Fraserburgh and Spey Valley are skilled and dedicated and our priority is to secure the continued productive use of these sites.”
Mr Hendry, SNP MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, said: “This is of great concern. Clearly we need to find out more about what this could mean for the employees in Grantown.
“We are working hard to see what we can do to keep these jobs or make sure that there is a positive outcome in the process.
“I think that it is important that we demonstrate to people that the workforce locally is very skilled and very capable and that there is a real benefit to doing business there.”