Five Star Fish deal will save 300 jobs

GRIMSBY'S Five Star Fish operation – plunged into administration after owner British Seafood Group hit the rocks – has been bought out in a multi-million-pound deal securing more than 300 jobs.

West Midlands-based Boparan Group, the owner of 2 Sisters Food Group and recent acquirers of the Harry Ramsden and FishWorks restaurant chains, has swooped for the business.

The company said it will secure jobs, protect its future and provide a stable backdrop for continued growth.

"We're absolutely delighted to have bought this fantastic business," new owner Ranjit Boparan said.

"It's a brilliant, innovative company with a terrific team of people who have skilfully guided the business to its present heights and we're going to do everything we can to help them continue to build and expand upon that success."

Customers include Morrisons and Iceland as well as a number of leading pub and restaurant chains.

Five Star Fish has doubled annual turnover to around £65-million in the past three years and employs 332 people in Great Grimsby Business Park.

At 43, Mr Boparan is one of the UK's most successful entrepreneurs, owning a number of businesses in the food sector, responsible for more than 6,000 employees worldwide and combined annual sales approaching £1-billion.

Under the sale agreement, the employment of the entire Five Star Fish workforce will transfer to Boparan, safeguarding the jobs.

Matt Smith, joint administrator and partner in the reorganisation services practice at Deloitte, said: "After a short period of trading during administration, we are delighted to have successfully completed the sale of the Five Star Fish business, which will secure the employment of the workforce at Grimsby.

"Five Star Fish is a strong, profitable business and the sale is sure to be welcomed by the stakeholders of Five Star Fish, both locally and globally, who are eager to see the Five Star Fish business survive."

Boparan Group company 2 Sisters is a major employer in northern Lincolnshire, with a large processing plant in Scunthorpe and several poultry farms in the surrounding hinterland. It also has operations in Holland and the USA.

Five Star Fish managing director Danny Burton has thanked the employees, suppliers and customers for their support through the administration period as he looks forward to a new era.

Mr Burton, who has rapidly expanded the company in recent years, following the initial purchase by The Real Good Food Company from founder John Fenty and then under British Seafood’s tenure, said: "It is great news. I was always confident the business would sell, and particularly after we saw the interest. The big thing was where and how.

Mr Burton and the senior management team will continue to steer the business forward. He added: "I would like to thank the employees, suppliers and customers who have stood by us during an uncertain period. Now we are really looking forward to making things happen."

David Robinson, economic development officer - food town for North East Lincolnshire Council, said: “The sale of Five Star Fish as a going concern ends a period of uncertainty for the company and its workforce. North East Lincolnshire Council looks forward to engaging with, and taking forward, the business under its new ownership to ensure that Five Star remains a significant player in the Food Town economy in the future.”