2 Sisters’ fish processor gets £5M investment

23-Apr-2017 - Last updated on 24-Apr-2017 at 10:49 GMT

Five Star Fish gained a £5M investment from owner 2 Sisters Food Group

Related tags Seafood Fish

2 Sisters has invested £5M in its frozen fish processing business, Five Star Fish, after it won a contract with Marks & Spencer (M&S) last year.

Five Star Fish will expand and upgrade its Grimsby factory after the cash injection, 2 Sisters said.

2 Sisters’ Meat Solutions division md Simon Wookey said: “The investment at Five Star will provide the platform for sustained growth and position the site so it can deliver the future needs of our customers.

“Our priority is to continue to work in partnership with customers to ensure that we are well-placed to deliver on quality, service and price.”

New production line

Five Star Fish, which makes breaded and battered fish as well as fish cakes, has been upgrading its factory since it agreed a new supplier contract last year, the manufacturer said. It has installed a new production line, and widened an existing line to increase capacity.

It signed a deal with M&S in August last year to supply it with coated fish products, it was revealed.

Five Star Fish acting site lead Mark Dalby said: “It’s been all hands on deck at Five Star Fish after we won the new business. We’ve experienced a period of stabilisation and building, with a strong focus on driving out cost and embedding our efficiency culture so we’re all fit and ready for the future.

‘Improved consistency’

“The project has moved at pace and we’ve had some fantastic support from colleagues at other sites that have worked with us to develop our food culture and thereby supply our customers with improved consistency and better eating quality.”

Five Star Fish began production in 1985. It was bought by food giant 2 Sisters in 2010, and began supplying to retailers in 2012. It now has about 500 workers.

Meanwhile, on Friday (April 21) fish processor Icelandic Seachill’s owner Icelandic Group revealed plans to sell the business. The Unite union has asked for urgent reassurances over the security of 750 jobs at the business.

Fellow Grimsby manufacturer Seachill previously held the M&S fish contract which Five Star Fish won in August last year. At the time, Icelandic Seachill revealed plans to cut 86 jobs after the contract loss.