Minister thanks Scottish Food and Drink manufacturers during visit to Mowi’s plant in Rosyth

Minister thanks Scottish Food and Drink manufacturers during visit to Mowi’s plant in Rosyth

Scottish Government Employment Minister Richard Lochhead met with the team at Mowi Scotland and Brightwork Recruitment to thank the site’s key workers for their commitment, hard work and sacrifice throughout the pandemic.

Bertil Buysse, MD for Mowi’s Scottish processing business, Gary Paterson, Head of Operations and Shan Saba from Brightwork Recruitment gave a warm welcome to the Minister. He was given a tour of the plant where he met many of the workers and saw at first hand the type of work that they have been carrying out throughout the pandemic to feed the country.

The site in Rosyth employs over 750 staff, making Mowi one of the biggest employers in the area. Mowi partners with Brightwork to support their recruitment and both are proud of every member of their team - who have been key to ensuring a stable supply of more than 250,000 healthy meals per day throughout all the lockdowns and restrictions.

Gary Paterson said: “The sacrifice and dedication of our teams has been key to ensuring that there has been a supply of our products on our customers’ shelves and I am personally proud of every single one of them.”

Resourcing for new workers for the plant has become more difficult as a consequence of Brexit, with Brightwork’s Shan Saba stating, “throughout Scotland we are seeing the most difficult labour market ever”.

He added: “Roles in food manufacturing can offer long term careers and we have to show those new recruits that Mowi is a great employer.”

Mowi is one of the largest seafood companies in the world and with operations throughout Scotland is a key employer in some of the most rural areas of the country.

Employment Minister Richard Lochhead said:

“We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Scottish food and drink manufacturers like Mowi who have provided a vital service during this pandemic.

“I was able to hear at first hand the very real impact of Brexit on key Scottish food sectors.

“This is an inevitable consequence of the UK Government decision to leave not just the EU but the Single Market and Customs Union, a move that Scottish people emphatically rejected at the EU referendum and one which has caused entirely avoidable damage.

“We have committed support of £10 million over 2020-2022 towards the food and drink sector’s Recovery Plan, which contains a range of actions to help businesses, including supporting their needs for skilled workers. These actions seek to help mitigate and reverse damage caused by COVID-19 and Brexit.

“A range of measures are being taken forward to embed our progressive Fair Work First approach across the economy as we rebuild a sustainable recovery.”