Mowi purchased Wester Ross Fisheries in June last year.
Scotland’s largest salmon farming company, Mowi, has entered into a consultation period with employees at its fish processing plant in Dingwall with a proposal to permanently close the facility, according to an article in the Ross-shire Journal.
The processing facility, previously owned and operated by Wester Ross Fisheries, cleans and packages salmon and employs about 15 people.
The proposal is that salmon that would have been processed in Dingwall will be diverted to the company’s other processing plants in Scotland.
Mowi purchased Wester Ross Fisheries in June last year.
A spokesperson for Mowi has confirmed to SalmonBusiness that the company has entered into a period of consultation with employees about the proposed closure and that, should the closure proceed, all staff will be offered similar or other employment with Mowi throughout the company’s operations.
Founded in 1977 by Robin Bradley and Alan Mann, Wester Ross Fisheries was the oldest independent, owner-operated salmon farm in Scotland and operates three seawater sites in Loch Kannaird, Loch Broom and Little Loch Broom, with a processing unit and a sales and administration office in Dingwall.
In 2020, Wester Ross Fisheries had a turnover of £16.15 million and made an operating profit of £2.62 million. Profit after tax and interest was £2.2 million, and net assets were valued at £10 million.
In September, former Wester Ross Managing Director, Gilpin Bradley, announced his retirement.
Bradley was managing director of Wester Ross Salmon for 33 years – a company his father co-founded in 1977. He was also former chairman of the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation, now known as Salmon Scotland.
