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Hartlepool fish wholesaler to create new jobs

A Hartlepool fish wholesaler is to create new jobs after being awarded funding of £115,500.

W Hodgson Limited is looking to move into new markets after it was awarded the EU funding to extend its factory.

The firm which employs 30 said it will expand its factory by up to 50% and increase its offering of freshly caught local fish.

Peter Hodgson, W Hodgson Limited, general manager, said: “My family’s business has been part of Hartlepool’s fishing industry for almost 100 years and we are proud to offer fresh locally caught fish to our North East customers.

“I’m looking forward to expanding our product range to meet their demand, which should also help the local fleet too as we will be able to take more fish from them.

“We’ve not really had the capacity for shellfish before and the European Fisheries Fund has made this possible. Without this support the expansion would have been very difficult.”

The grant will be used towards a £290,000 development project, part-funded by the company themselves, which includes extending their processing unit, increasing storage and office space and re-organising the factory layout to make it more efficient.

New freezing and chilling facilities will also be introduced, along with shellfish processing equipment and live holding facilities for crabs and lobsters. It is hoped the project will create two processing jobs and one managerial position, once work is completed in October.

The local fishing industry is also likely to benefit as W Hodgson will be able to buy and process more of their catch.

Catherine Murphy, programme manager for the EFF scheme in England said: “We recognised the importance of W Hodgson Ltd to Hartlepool, its fishing industry and the local economy and were pleased to learn that the funding will help to create additional jobs in an area which has a particularly high rate of unemployment.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .