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STRATHAIRD Salmon has said that its factory in Inverness will close on Friday, with most of the 320-strong staff opting to take redundancy.
However, a small number of people - around seven per cent of the workforce - have taken an offer of alternative employment at Grimsby and Fraserburgh.
Strathaird Salmon is owned by The Seafood Company, which is part of the Findus Group which also owns Young's. Last year it announced that it was planning to move smoked salmon production to Fraserburgh because the cost if updating the factory over the next few years would have been at least £7-million.
The company had made available a large number of alternative vacancies, but it is thought around 19 people will move to Grimsby where both Young's and The Seafood Company have large fish processing facilities. A small number will go to Fraserburgh. Iain Herd, managing director at Strathaird Salmon, said: "We believed that we had the capacity to absorb all jobs at Inverness within our other factories but recognised that colleagues may not wish to relocate."
However, there are hopes that the Inverness site may not remain empty for too long with Strathaird Salmon confirming that they have had inquiries for the factory.
Nevertheless, the news is still a blow to Inverness because it had been thought that the seafood business had escaped the worst effects of the recession. Last week Coldwater Shellfish in Grimsby announced that the future of its plant, which employs 25 people, was under review.
Should fisheries be closed during breeding time to allow stocks to reach more sustainable levels?
