Mowi hosts Kyleakin community event

The team from Mowi (formerly Marine Harvest) welcomed nearly 30 members from the local community to a recent special cheese and wine event at the Broadford Hotel on Skye.

The event was an information evening on the company’s new £125million feed plant at Kyleakin, which is gearing up for business with more than half the workforce now in place.

Site manager Kevin O’Leary said: ‘We organised the evening to give people the opportunity to find out more about the feed plant as we gear up to opening next year.

‘The local community has been very patient during the construction of the new feed mill and many residents have also helped with the relocation of our international staff who have now settled in the area. We felt it was important to say a large thank you to them.’

Mowi has recruited 37 members of the 53-strong workforce so far with another six due before the end of this year. The full complement of staff should be in place by the end of January.

Ultimately, 60 per cent of the workforce will be local with the plant providing diverse and well-paid jobs in the area.

For James Mackay, feed plant shift process controller, and his wife, Jenna, a job at the feed plant has enabled them to return to the Highlands to raise their family.

Mr Mackay explained: ‘My wife was born and bred in Kyleakin and I’m from Harris originally.

‘Having worked in Glasgow for the last 12 years when the opportunity came up I grabbed it with both hands.

‘We have a young son and a lot of relatives here so to be able to raise our family here is very special.’

The feed plant has also proved a real draw for staff with specialist skills and knowledge in engineering, finance, feed and safety management from across the globe. Seven nations will be represented in the workforce at Kyleakin including Italy, India, Norway and Germany.

Maiken Harsvik, who attended the event, chose to move to Kyleakin after working at Mowi in Norway.

The 25-year-old accountant has thrown herself into community life in Kyleakin: ‘This was a really good move for me. I love the outdoors and I like to be part of the community.

‘Since moving here, I have had the chance to explore the beautiful nature on Skye while hiking and biking. I have also been training with Skye Strength and Movement in several locations like Dorine Hall, Breakish Hall and An Crùbh and have met a lot of nice people from Skye and Lochalsh.’