Young's Seafood facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | food |
| Founded | 1805 |
| Headquarters | Ross House, Wickham Road, Grimsby, England |
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Key people
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Simon Smith, CEO |
| Products | food |
| Owner | Sofina Foods as of 2022 |
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Number of employees
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3,000 |
| Subsidiaries | Young's Retail, Young's Foodservice |
Young's Seafood Ltd. is a big company in the United Kingdom that provides frozen, fresh, and chilled fish and seafood. They supply about 40% of all the fish eaten in the UK each year! Their main office is in Grimsby, England.
Today's Young's Seafood was created in 1999 when Young's and another company called Bluecrest joined together. It is owned by a company named Sofina Foods since 2022. Young's Seafood is a very important company in the European seafood world.
Contents
History
Before Young's joined with Bluecrest, Young's itself had changed owners many times.
Early beginnings
Young's Seafood started way back in 1805. That's when Elizabeth Martha began selling fish at the docks in Greenwich. In 1811, she married William Timothy Young. His family had been fishing on the River Thames since the mid-1700s. They combined their fishing and selling businesses.
Their business grew, and they later moved to Leigh-on-Sea. By the late 1800s, the company was run by William Joseph Young. It became a well-known fish selling and wholesale business. They even had their own small boats for catching whitebait and shrimp.
In 1890, the company moved its main office to London. This helped them supply fish to restaurants and caterers in the city. Young's grew a lot in the 1920s. They were one of the first companies in England to bring in salmon. They also launched their most popular product: potted shrimps.
The next generation of the Young family took over in the late 1930s. These were brothers Gordon, Stanley, Douglas, and Malcolm. They set up new parts of the company. One new part handled buying and processing fish at the docks in Grimsby. Grimsby later became the busiest fishing port in the UK. By the 1950s, Young's had five factories just for making potted shrimp.
Joining the Ross Group and Imperial Tobacco
In 1959, Young's was bought by a bigger company called the Ross Group. But Young's kept its own operations and its famous brand name. Members of the Young family still helped lead the company.
Ross's and Young's frozen food businesses grew a lot in the 1960s. They set up new ways to deliver food. They also bought many other fish sellers across the country. By the mid-1960s, their share of the UK's frozen food market was over 5% in stores. It was as much as 13% for restaurants.
However, the Ross Group's fishing boat business was losing money. In 1969, the company agreed to be bought by Imperial Tobacco. As part of this deal, Ross's fishing boat business became a separate company. Ross was renamed Imperial Foods, but the Ross and Young's names continued as separate parts of the new company.
As part of Imperial, Young's invested money to make more products. They also created a new central delivery system. By the mid-1970s, Young's sales had more than doubled. They had sales of over £23 million in 1974 and were running 18 factories.
Changes with Hanson and United Biscuits
By the mid-1980s, Imperial was being targeted by other companies wanting to buy it. One of these was United Biscuits Plc (UB). UB didn't get Imperial, but a fast-growing company called Hanson did. Hanson was only interested in Imperial's tobacco business. So, in 1988, Hanson sold Ross Young's to UB.
Under UB's ownership, Young's became a separate business again. However, by the late 1990s, UB decided to focus on its main brands.
Bluecrest joins Young's
Bluecrest was a British company that made and processed fish products. It was started in 1975 by Frank Flear in Grimsby. In 1999, Bluecrest was sold to Young's Seafood. This was a big step for Young's.
When Young's and Bluecrest combined, they formed Young's Bluecrest. This new company became the leading expert in fish business in the UK.
New owners and growth
In 2000, Young's Bluecrest brought back the Young's brand products. They also invested in making more products. The company's sales were over £320 million. They also started a plan to grow by buying other fish companies in Britain.
In 2002, Young's Bluecrest was sold to a new group of owners, backed by CapVest. The company then started buying other businesses. In June 2003, they bought the chilled seafood part of Albert Fisher. In October 2003, they bought the Pinegain Group. Young's also bought a part of Macrae Food Group in September 2004. Macrae was the biggest maker of ready-to-eat seafood in Scotland.
Young's also improved its factories in Humber, Grimsby, and Edinburgh between 2005 and 2006. In January 2006, Young's bought the UK part of Findus. This made Young's total sales reach about £1 billion. It confirmed Young's as the top company in the UK for frozen fish. They had now passed their rivals, Bird's Eye.
In 2019, Young's was bought by CapVest Partners LLP. This company also owned Karro Food Group, which specializes in pork. Together, Karro and Young's employ about 5,000 people across the UK and Ireland. In October 2020, Young's bought a German company called AliSa International GmbH, also known as Greenland Seafood.
What Young's Seafood Sells
Most of what Young's sells is its own Young's brand of frozen and chilled fish, shrimp, and shellfish. The company also owns Macrae in Scotland.
The Young's Foodservice part of the company focuses on selling to restaurants and catering businesses. Polarfrost Seafoods specializes in fish that is frozen right on the fishing boat.
Their sister company, The Seafood Company, now focuses on chilled fish for other UK stores to sell under their own brand names.
Sponsorships
Young's was the main sponsor for Grimsby Town F.C., a football club. They started sponsoring the team's jerseys in 2004. For the 2004–2005 season, the team's yellow away jersey had the logo for "Youngs Mariners Pie." This was a fun way to connect with Grimsby Town's team nickname, "The Mariners."
Young's stopped being the main jersey sponsor at the end of the 2021–22 season. They had sponsored the club for 18 years.
Other Companies Like Young's
Here are some other companies that compete with Young's Seafood:
- Alpesca S.A.
- Orkla ASA
- Aker ASA
- Maruha Corporation
- Unilever Deutschland GmbH
- Icelandic Group Seachill hf
- Perkins Foods Holdings Ltd.
- Green Isle Food Group Ltd.
See also
In Spanish: Young's Seafood para niños
