Icelandic fish company leaves UK blaming Brexit and Covid

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An Icelandic fish company has announced plans to 'exit' the UK market, citing Brexit bureaucracy and the impact of Covid.

Iceland Seafood UK said its Grimsby processing plant, which employs nearly 200 people, was no longer seen as a "strategic fit" for the business.

The potential job losses follow a merger of its Bradford operation with the Grimsby site as part of a decision to invest in new facilities in March 2020.

"The factory refurbishment and installation has been highly impacted by Covid and later Brexit, as well as difficulties in global operations," the company said.

The statement adds: "While it has been concluded that the operation at UK is no longer a strategic fit for Iceland Seafood, Grimsby's excellent facilities and strong management team p can be a great addition to other businesses in the sector."< /p>

Chief Executive Bjarni Ármannsson said costly bureaucracy following the UK's exit from the EU has hurt the ability to company to import fish and seafood for processing and sale.

"The UK market has become more difficult after Brexit. The UK has become heavier in terms of paperwork,” he said.

Iceland Seafoods hired Icelandic firm MAR Advisors to find a buyer for the processing plant , with the impact on jobs still unclear. .

North East Lincolnshire, the region where the Grimsby plant is located, voted 69.9% (55,185) to leave the EU and 30.1% to stay in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

But wrangling over fishing rights and additional paperwork have plagued the industry since the Brexit trade deal came into effect in early 2021 - despite promises to regain 'control' of fishing waters.

The National Federation of Fishermen's Organizations (NFFO) said last year that the sector had been 'sold out' by the Brexit deal.

It comes as Rishi Sunak has insisted the UK will not realign to EU laws under his leadership as the government seeks to for sink speculation he is considering a Swiss-like relationship with the EU.

The prime minister said he wanted to be "unequivocal" that he "will not pursue any relationship with Europe that rest e on alignment with EU laws".

But business leaders have urged him to consider alignment with Switzerland, or even fuller access to the EU's single market. EU .

Former managing director of Siemens UK, Juerge...