Lincolnshire based businesses have secured over £10.3m from the latest round of grants announced by the UK Seafood Fund Infrastructure Scheme.

The successful projects were announced on 17th July here.   

These grants continue the investment in the Grimsby fish processing cluster, the UK’s largest seafood centre which supports 10,000 jobs in the supply chain.  It also marks the first large grant received for aquaculture in Lincolnshire, to help Flo-Gro Systems building a state-of-the-art facility in southern Lincolnshire for king prawns. 

These two themes: developing a thriving aquaculture sector; and continuing the growth of the Grimsby fish processing cluster align with the ambitions set out in the UK Food Valley investment prospectus for this sector which can be viewed here. 

Successful Lincolnshire based projects include: 

  • Fastnet Fish, Grimsby received £1,277,692.29 - DEFRA has awarded £1.2 million to Fastnet Fish to increase cold store capability in the existing facility by 150%, by installing racking units which will maximise product throughput, without incurring additional energy costs. The project aims to substantially reduce electricity usage by installing renewable energy mechanisms to reduce carbon emissions and create environmentally sustainable energy solutions. 
     
  • Flo-Gro Systems Limited, Crowland received £5,000,000.00 - DEFRA has awarded £5 million to Flo-Gro Systems Ltd to build a new aquaculture facility in Lincolnshire to produce fresh king prawns (Pacific Vannamei) for the UK market.  The facility will include a hatchery and processing and packing equipment.  The project will deliver pioneering technology, sustainable energy generation and innovative farm practice and will have the capability to produce at least 2,500 tonnes of fresh king prawns per annum. As well as ensuring energy consumption savings by installing roof and ground-mounted solar panels integrated with an onsite battery system to redeploy at night. 
     
  • New England Seafood International, Grimsby received £3,774,667.53 - DEFRA has awarded £3.8 million to New England Seafood International to deliver a state-of-the-art processing facility in Grimsby.  The project includes the purchase of processing equipment, the extension and refurbishment of the current building and installation of a refrigeration plant. The project will reduce road miles and save on energy consumption, grow its output by 162% over four years and create 263 jobs.
     
  • Seafish Processing Limited, Grimsby received £315,051.62 - DEFRA has awarded over £315,000 to Seafish Processing Limited to expand its processing facility. The project will include the refurbishment of their current building to install a new cold store, blast chiller and fish-debone and separator station. The project will increase the processing and production capability by 40%, increase its capability to export and remove a generator and diesel shunt process to eradicate carbon emissions.