Salmon farmer unveils £3m investment to equip new farm

Salmon farmer Scottish Sea Farms is to spend more than £3 million with suppliers throughout Scotland, bringing a jobs boost to rural communities.

The new farm is to create six jobs on site and additional roles across the supply chain. Picture: Scottish Sea Farms

The Stirling-headquartered group announced the multi-million pound spend as it prepares to launch a new site in Orkney.

Scottish Sea Farms confirmed it will invest a total of £3.3m in infrastructure, more than 90 per cent of which will be spent with Scottish businesses, to equip its farm off Lober Rock in the Scapa Flow which is due to go live in the autumn.

The contracts include £1.74m with the Gael Force Group in Inverness, £665,000 with Macduff Shipyards in Aberdeenshire, £324,000 with W&J Knox in Ayrshire and £106,000 with Leask Marine in Orkney.

The new farm is set to create six full-time roles and lead to further job creation across the supply chain.

Scottish Sea Farms managing director Jim Gallagher said: “These orders will equip our new farm with the latest technologies, ensuring we’re Scottish Technical Standard 2020 compliant and giving our salmon the very best environment in which to grow.

“We’ve worked with several of these suppliers for many years now as part of our long-standing policy of buying Scottish wherever possible and know their products to be tried and tested with regards to withstanding Orkney marine conditions.”