Gael Force launches talks on redundancy

Employment: Group planning cuts in areas ‘no longer viable’

A redundancy consultation has been launched among staff at Gael Force Group after management decided, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, a number of areas of the business were “no longer viable”.

It is understood around 12 jobs may be at risk, although the Invernessbased marine equipment, technology and services company is continuing to recruit new workers after recently launching an ambitious five-year growth plan.

The firm’s retail outlet in Glasgow is among parts of the group affected and will not reopen after being closed during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Gael Force employs more than 250 people across UK operations in Inverness, Forres, Fort William, Kishorn, Oban, Stornoway, Glasgow and Plymouth, and overseas in Grand Falls-Windsor, Canada. The company has added 10 staff to its workforce since March and is currently recruiting a further eight.

A Gael Force spokesman said: “Through the pandemic it has become apparent there are a limited number of areas in our business which are no longer viable and will be unable to reopen. These include the retail element of our Glasgow operation, which we will not reopen and will now operate as a distribution facility only.

“We also have some noncore legacy sectors and inhouse functions we carry out which are no longer viable and, therefore, very regrettably we have had to consider making a very limited number of positions redundant. There are no plans to make further redundancies beyond this and indeed we have recruited an additional 10 positions since March, are recruiting an additional eight posts at the moment and there will be more to follow.”

He added: “The commitment of all our staff and customers has been enormous through this period and we too remain very focused on and committed to our growth strategy.

“We are continuing to invest and expect to deliver similar growth in business and job numbers over the next four years as we have in the last four years, which is a clear and positive message we wanted to communicate to all our employees and stakeholders.”

Gael Force, which was founded in 1983 by managing director Stewart Graham, announced appointments to its boardroom team last week.

“There are no plans to make further redundancies beyond this”

CUTBACKS: Gael Force Marine, which provides a range of services to the fish farming industry, plans redundancies