Business Minister Fergus Ewing met with firms in the north-east yesterday as efforts continue to create new jobs in the wake of the Young’s Seafood crisis.
As many as 100 jobs have been axed since the turn of the New Year as the fish processing giant continues restructuring following the loss of a massive supermarket contract.
Mr Ewing convened two meetings in the north-east town yesterday – with local businesses and with other seafood sector firms – in an effort to find job opportunities for axed employees.
A “major” jobs fair has now been organised and will take place later this month.
It is also understood that the discussions chaired by Mr Ewing will inform an economic recovery plan that will be drawn up by the official Fraserburgh Task Force.
Yesterday, Mr Ewing said: “I came here today to meet with a cross section of businesses from Fraserburgh and surrounding areas, and with the seafood sector, to hear first-hand about local job opportunities and market conditions.
“With a major jobs fair in a fortnight to help Young’s staff and local people find new employment, it’s imperative there is a slick and effective process to capture and advertise vacancies widely.”
The informal discussions are a precursor to the next meeting of the task force, which has been set for the day after the jobs fair.
The group was established by the Scottish Government last year to limit the damage to workers and the local community by Young’s decision to cut as many as 650 roles.
Last night, north-east Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald, a member of the task force, welcomed the progress but said he was disappointed that the group has not officially met since October despite a round of redundancies.
Mr Macdonald said: “I’m very much in touch with what’s going on in Fraserburgh but the bad news is that nothing that is being done has avoided over 100 redundancies in the last few days. That is very distressing for those families.
“What I would say to local businesses in the seafood sector is to look at what opportunities there might be for workers from the Young’s factory to be deployed in their firms.”
The jobs fair will take place at North East College Scotland’s Fraserburgh campus on Thursday, January 28, between 10am-4pm.