Seafood Processing Industry Performance Data | Issue 2 | 2021

seafood processing industry performance data: 2012-2020

Issue 02 | 2021

Get the latest UK seafood processing industry performance statistics from our most recent surveys.

All data refers to majority seafood processing sites located in the UK. Majority seafood processing sites are defined as those that derive 50% or more of their annual turnover from seafood processing (as opposed to trading, wholesaling, retailing, importing, exporting).

Industry Profile (2020) 16,545

Full-time employees

1,558 17,988

348 sites

FTE jobs

Part-time employees

1,052

Seasonal employees

(FTE: Full-time equivalent)

Share of FTE jobs by…

Unreported 5%

65+ 3%

Gender

55-64 14%

Female 38%

Male 57%

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Seafish Performance Data

Unreported 11%

45-54 19%

Age

15-24 11%

25-34 20%

35-44 22%

For more information about underlying data and methodologies please refer to the Processing Methodology Report and Processing Enquiry Tool, which can be found at seafish.org Information about our processing sector data collection programme and analysis work can also be found at seafish.org Enquiries can be sent to processingenquiries@seafish.co.uk

Proportion of sites that also…

51%

Retail

86%

Wholesale

28%

Import

42%

Export

Unreported 8%

High-skilled 7%

Unskilled 10%

Unreported 8% Other 2%

Skilled 15%

Skill Level

Nationality EU 35%

Low-skilled 29%

UK 55%

Semi-skilled 31%

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Economic Performance (2018)* To produce these estimates, Seafish collects financial accounts data from UK majority seafood processors each year. All majority seafood processors are invited to provide data. Participation is voluntary.

£4.1bn £558m £1.1bn Turnover

Operating Profit

GVA

* 2018 financial data are preliminary.

Industry Trends (2012-20) Total industry turnover increased in 2017 and 2018 following a sustained decrease since 2013. In 2018, preliminary estimates show a decrease in operating costs on 2017, resulting in increased total operating profit. GVA also increased substantially in 2018.

Turnover Operating profit

Economic Performance

Operating costs GVA

£5bn

£4bn

£3bn £2bn

£1bn

2012 3

2013

Seafish Performance Data

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Costs (2018)*

£2.6bn £495m £461m £51m Raw Material

0%

Labour

20%

Other Operating

40%

60%

Energy

80%

100%

* 2018 financial data are preliminary.

The number of majority seafood processing sites and FTE jobs* supported by the sector have contracted since 2012. The drop in sites between 2016 and 2020 was largely driven by a reduction in the number of medium sized sites (11-25 and 26-50 FTEs). Not all of this reduction was due to site closures. In some instances these businesses may have taken on more employees over time and grown into larger sites. This reduction in medium sized businesses was primarily seen in England across demersal, shellfish and mixed species processing sites. * While FTE jobs appear to have increased between 2016 and 2018, some of this change is likely due to seasonality of the workforce.

All censuses apart from 2018 were carried out at the end of summer (July to August), while the 2018 census was carried out at the end of the year (November to December).

Depending on the type of processing activity, employment can vary considerably during the year and may partially explain this change.

In the lead up to Christmas, for example, some processors may have employed more seasonal staff.

Number of sites 400 300 200 100 0

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2018

2020

Number of FTE Jobs 20000 15000 10000 5000 0

2012

2014

2016

4

Regions of the UK Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) is a national unit of territorial statistics. There are three levels: NUTS1, NUTS2, NUTS3. Data are shown at NUTS2 level.

Top ten regions, by number of processing sites or number of FTE jobs in 2020, are labelled on the map.

Highlands and Islands North Eastern Scotland Eastern Scotland

West Central Scotland

Southern Scotland

Northern Ireland

East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire

Lancashire

East Anglia

Outer London – South

Devon Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

Scotland England 5

Seafish Performance Data

Wales Northern Ireland

Regional Profiles (2020) North Eastern Scotland (Grampian) and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire (the Humber) remained key regions for seafood processing in the UK in terms of both number of sites and FTE jobs supported.

In both of these areas, number of sites decreased slightly between 2018 and 2020, while number of FTE jobs remained steady in East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire and declined in North Eastern Scotland during this period.

Top 10 regions by number of sites

Top 10 regions by number of FTE jobs

Region

No. of sites (2020)

Change from 2018 (%)

North Eastern Scotland

51

-4%

East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire

50

-7%

Highlands and Islands

42

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

Region

FTE jobs (2020)

Change from 2018 (%)

East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire

5,546

0%

North Eastern Scotland

3,563

-14%

-11%

Southern Scotland

1,535

-10%

23

35%

Highlands and Islands

1,434

-18%

Eastern Scotland

19

0%

Eastern Scotland

929

-13%

Northern Ireland

15

7%

Devon

767

-1%

Southern Scotland

15

-12%

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

569

32%

East Anglia

14

0%

Northern Ireland

412

2%

Devon

14

0%

Outer London – South

400

-7%

Lancashire

14

27%

West Central Scotland

346

59%

National Profiles (2020) England Size Band

Scotland No. of sites

Size Band

Northern Ireland No. of sites

Size Band

Wales

No. of sites

Size Band

No. of sites

FTE 1-10

105

FTE 1-10

47

FTE 1-10

7

FTE 1-10

4

FTE 11-25

30

FTE 11-25

24

FTE 11-25

6

FTE 11-25

1

FTE 26-50

20

FTE 26-50

21

FTE 26-50

FTE 51-100

20

FTE 51-100

13

FTE 51-100

1

FTE 51-100

FTE 100+

21

FTE 100+

22

FTE 100+

1

FTE 100+

Unreported

1

Unreported

4

Unreported

FTE 26-50

Unreported 6

Species type (2020) Shellfish FTE Jobs Number of sites

Demersal 2,595 78

Number of sites

935 51

Most shellfish processing sites (71%) in 2020 were at sites with 25 or fewer FTE jobs. Most shellfish processing jobs were in England (1,071) and Scotland (1,169). In England, these sites were smaller on average (average 21 FTEs/site) than in Scotland (average 69 FTEs/site).

In 2020, most demersal processing sites (75%) supported 25 or fewer FTE jobs. Both North Eastern Scotland (Grampian) and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire (the Humber) were clear regional hubs for demersal processing, with these two regions accounting for 91% of the FTE jobs supported by demersal sites.

Pelagic

Salmon/Trout

FTE Jobs Number of sites

938 12

FTE Jobs Number of sites

1,276 30

In 2020, 54% of FTE jobs at pelagic processing sites were in the North Eastern Scotland (Grampian) region.

Pelagic processing sites were fairly evenly spread across site sizes.

The largest proportion (43%) of all FTE jobs at salmon processing sites in 2020 was at sites in the Highlands and Islands region, followed by Cumbria (17%) and West Central Scotland (13%).

Mixed

Unreported

FTE Jobs Number of sites

12,230 174

In 2020, 68% of seafood processing FTE jobs in the UK were at sites processing a mixture of species.

Sites in East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire (the Humber) region supported over 40% of all FTE jobs at mixed processing sites in 2020, followed by sites in North Eastern Scotland (Grampian) (17%).

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FTE Jobs

Seafish Performance Data

FTE Jobs Number of sites

3

Processing type (2020) Primary Processing Includes: cutting, filleting, deboning, picking, peeling, washing, chilling, packing, heading and gutting.

Secondary Processing Includes: brining, smoking, cooking, freezing, canning, breading, vacuum and controlled packaging, drying, production of ready meals.

Mixed Processing A mix of primary and secondary processing.

In 2020, 55% of primary processing sites employed 10 or fewer FTEs. These small sites together supported 13% of FTE jobs at primary processing sites in the UK. Most of these sites were located in North Eastern Scotland (Grampian) and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire (the Humber).

Four secondary processing sites employed over 100 FTEs in 2020.

These four sites together supported 72% of the FTE jobs at secondary processing sites in 2020. Two were located in England and two were located in Scotland.

While over 40% of mixed processing sites employed fewer than 10 FTEs in 2020, nearly three-quarters of FTE jobs at mixed processing sites were supported by sites with over 100 FTEs. Most of these sites were located in North Eastern Scotland (Grampian), East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire (the Humber) and Southern Scotland.

Primary FTE Jobs Number of sites

1,759 75

Secondary FTE Jobs Number of sites

2,190 35

Mixed FTE Jobs Number of sites

14,039 236

Unreported FTE Jobs Number of sites

2

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For more information about underlying data and methodologies please refer to the Processing Methodology Report and Processing Enquiry Tool, which can be found at seafish.org Information about our processing sector data collection programme and analysis work can also be found at seafish.org Enquiries can be sent to processingenquiries@seafish.co.uk

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www.seafish.org processingenquiries@seafish.co.uk