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AROUND 80 jobs at one of Young's Seafood operations in Grimsby are likely to go.
The company said last night that it had entered a 30-day consultation period with the affected staff at its Humberstone Road plant after a key contract, due to end next month, was not renewed. All departments at the factory, apart from fish fingers, could be affected.
Staff leaving the site last night said the mood inside the factory, which employs over 500 people, was "rather sombre", adding that they were worried about their job prospects because there were not many vacancies in the local seafood industry at the present time.
But Steve Lidgett, operations director at Young's, insisted that the company was still fully committed to the port and said that it would do everything it could to win back the contract. "Grimsby is our spiritual home," he added. Findus said economic conditions remained tough and the proposals were necessary in order to remain competitive.
Young's is part of the Findus Group which also includes The Seafood Company, the main supplier of own label fish to supermarkets and is the largest private employer in Grimsby with between 1,700 and 2,000 staff.
The Humberstone Road factory was built in the 1960s by the old Findus regime, then owned by Nestle. It has been a major employer of seafood workers ever since producing many key products.
In November, Young's announced that 28 administrative and marketing jobs at its Ross House centre in Grimsby would be lost following a decision to move its marketing department to London where it now has its head office.
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