Young’s Seafood may keep the Cromer Crab Company site in Norfolk open following a public outcry over plans to close the facility.
Last month, the UK fish and seafood supplier announced plans to close subsidiary The Cromer Crab Company, putting 230 jobs at risk. The company blamed inflation, over-capacity in the industry, competition and pressure on margins from promotions. It said it was looking to move production to Grimsby or Scotland.
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The plans prompted the formation of a campaign group called Keep It Cromer, which enlisted the help of celebrities including TV presenter and author Stephen Fry and Olympic rower Sir Matthew Pinsent and presented a 6,500 signature petition to company bosses.
Yesterday (31 October 2011) Young’s held a meeting and confirmed it is now looking at ways to keep Cromer Crab-branded items in Cromer.
Young’s COO Pete Ward said: “We welcome the interest in Cromer crab as it highlights how much of a high quality, iconic shellfish it is and its importance to the local community.
“The consultation is underway and we are continuing to explore all options and alternatives raised. Working closely with a number of stakeholders, we are now looking at ways to keep Cromer Crab-branded items in Cromer and we will not move these lines to either Grimsby or Scotland.”
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By GlobalDataA Tweet from the Keep it Cromer campaign today said: “The very fact they are proposing to keep the factory open shows they recognise the importance.”
Established in 1980, the Cromer facility processes prawns and a small amount of crab, lobster and other shellfish. Crab and lobster sourced from the local area account for around 2%, or GBP1m, of the Cromer Crab Company’s GBP65m turnover and around 20 of the 230 jobs at the factory, the company said.
