New fish plant

The Scottish seafood processors Macrae, which was bought by the British company Young's in 2004, has opened a £10 million seafood processing facility at Livingston in Scotland.

The factory, which is claimed to be the most technologically advanced in the UK, will produce chilled prepared seafood exclusively for the supermarket chain Waitrose, the newspaper Scotsman reported.

Mike Parker, chairman of Macrae and deputy chief executive of the Grimsby-based Young's, said that fish was one of the most booming sectors of the food industry in the UK, worth £2.2 billion and underlined that the chilled sector was the most dynamic part, growing at 10 per cent a year.

"This represents both an opportunity and a challenge for our industry as we try to capitalise on this tremendous consumer appetite for fish, while managing development in a sustainable way - particularly with an eye on the future of precious wild fish resources," he said.

Parker added that Scotland was fundamental to the growth of Macrae and Young's, as demonstrated by the investment of around £50m in Scottish facilities over the past three years.