£5m cash boost for Grimsby seafood storage firm

HSH Cold Stores Limited, in Grimsby, said it wanted to expand its 32,700-pallet space as part of a £33m project

A seafood cold storage firm has been awarded £5m of government cash to expand its business as part of a national scheme to boost the UK's fishing industry.

HSH Cold Stores Limited in Grimsby, which stores and transports frozen and chilled fish food products, said it wanted to expand and modernise its current facility to a 32,700-pallet space as part of a £33m project.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said its cash injection came from a £20m fund to help the UK fishing industry and would create more than 60 new jobs in the town.

Fisheries Minister Mark Spencer said a further £2m was also being offered to Grimsby to be allocated to other projects.

HSH Cold Stores said the money would help secure Grimsby's position for "fish and seafood trading and processing within the UK" and prevent the sector from moving overseas.

Henry Pringle, from HSH Cold Stores' parent company, said he was "very pleased" with the investment

Henry Pringle, chief operating officer of Constellation Cold Logistics, HSH's parent company, said the organisation was “crying out for this new capacity and funding”.

“The fishing boats don't come here as often as they used to," he said.

Grimsby "really is still still the centre of fish and seafood trading and processing within the UK", Mr Pringle added.

"That's only going to be able to continue if we’ve got facilities like this. Without these kind of facilities, unfortunately that kind of trade will move to the continent."

Defra said there was "a lack of major cold storage expansion in the area", with some seafood processors in Grimsby having to rely on cold storage facilities in Peterborough and elsewhere in the Midlands.

A Defra spokesperson said the firm's expansion would "positively impact the supply chain by keeping costs to local food production and transport down, which also reduces fuel consumption".

Meanwhile, Fisheries Minister Mark Spencer said: "It's great news for the region and great news for the fisheries sector. It's one of those core industries that everybody loves to see flourish.

"We all love fish and chips and I think building on facilities like this brings new jobs, it brings levelling up to communities and it secures the future."