Salmon factory closure confirmed

The company blamed the loss of 326 jobs in Inverness on rising cost of energy and the global economic crisis. However, it was optimistic that all employees of Strathaird Salmon could be absorbed elsewhere.

It said running costs had increased, and it would have needed to invest £7m in the Inverness facility over the next five years.

Iain Herd, managing director at Strathaird Salmon, said extensive discussions had taken place between the company, employees and stakeholders in order to find solutions to closure.

He added: "Regrettably it was agreed that there were no viable alternatives."  

Herd underlined that the current priority was to redeploy or retrain those affected.

 “We believe we have the ability to absorb all jobs at our other sites if people are willing to relocate and the roles are suitable.

"The need to make any redundancies is regrettable. However, we believe that through consolidation we can secure the long term growth and profitability of the business and safeguard the future for our employees in Scotland."