Wayne Hudson is out as managing director of the frozen division of Grimsby, England-headquartered Young’s Seafood Limited, effective July 31. His departure is part of the company’s “One Young” restructuring regimen, which will see Frank Green assume the position of sales director and Steve Lidgett become director of operations on August 1.
With more than 32 years of experience in the British food industry, Hudson had headed up Young’s frozen food business since January of 2013. Previously he was commercial director at Kerry Foods, and prior to that worked at United Biscuits and Nestlé Purina.
Wayne Hudson“I would like to thank Wayne Hudson for his contribution to the development of our frozen brand over the past two years,” said CEO Pete Ward. “Wayne will leave a frozen business that has succeeded in accelerating its innovation pipeline, improving the consistency of our brand and driving our market share in an increasingly competitive environment.”
Under the restructuring plan, management of the frozen unit will now be handled in what the company calls a “more streamlined approach” that will enable it to be better prepared to respond to challenges in the marketplace.
“The new One Young’s board structure will help us to continue to improve our operations, drive functional excellence and efficiency, and provide the best fish and seafood to our customers and consumers,” stated Ward. “This is a continuation of our One Young’s strategy, bringing together the expertise within our chilled and frozen operations, and marks the next step in the evolution of our business.”
Meanwhile, Young’s Seafoods recently announced that its Fraserburgh processing plant in Scotland is no longer targeted for closure. Following a meeting with Scottish Government officials and Scottish Enterprise, a decision was made to keep the factory open.
“I am pleased that Young’s is now exploring a revised option which would see their Fraserburgh factory remain open, albeit downsized to around 250 permanent staff –around half the current number – with no redundancies before 2016,” said Business Minister Fergus Ewing. “An alternative buyer would be sought for the Grantown on Spey facility.”
CEO Ward commented: “The company is committed to constructive engagement with all stakeholders in a transparent way to explore all and every option to retain as many jobs as is feasible.”
The loss of a £100 million contract to supply salmon products to the Sainsbury supermarket chain in the United Kingdom prompted Young’s to consider shutting down processing plants in Scotland. While the Fraserburgh facility may survive as a reduced capacity operation, the future of the Grantown on Spey unit remains unknown.
