The £5.6 million Humber Seafood Institute opened in 2008 and is the first of its kind in the UK. Backed by Yorkshire Forward, North East Lincolnshire Council and the European Regional Development Fund, the HSI is home to the Grimsby Institute and the Research, Marine Safety Services, Training and Accreditation, Legislation, Information Services and Support Departments of the Seafish Industry Authority.
Based on Europarc Grimsby, the HSI’s state-of-the-art-facilities are designed to support the future of the UK seafood industry. It will engage in collaborative research with industry leaders so as to optimise market and trade opportunities.
Fast-becoming a catalyst for innovation and creativity, the HSI can provide access to incubation and managed workspace units, new product development kitchens, refrigeration research facility, chemical and environmental laboratory equipment as well as process hall and microbiological laboratories.
Thousands of local workers with the right skills on your doorstep
The local area has a workforce of 90,000 within a 15-minute catchment, and 350,000 workers within a 45-minute drive. Recent economic conditions mean that there is a ready-made labour-force eager and willing to work on new projects, many with direct experience in the food industry.
Specialist graduates in the region
The wider Yorkshire and Humber region offers a large pool of skilled food and drink workers, with 200,000 people employed across agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale and retail. More than 56,000 of these are employed in manufacturing.
Industry-leading skills training for the food sector
National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing
The Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education is a key partner in ensuring that the area continues to provide the skills necessary for the future of the food industry.
Grimsby Institute was one of the first accredited academy training centres within the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing.
Working alongside major food manufacturers in the area, the Institute has developed a range of bespoke courses including a part-time foundation and bachelor degrees in Food Manufacturing Management.
Food Dynamo Training Centre
The college’s Food Dynamo Training Centre, based at Grimsby Docks, is a dedicated factory training unit, offering facilities to trial the production of food products, particularly in the context of new product development. It also enables individuals to learn in a simulated full production environment. http://www.grimsby.ac.uk/category/312.html
The National Traceability Centre
This facility opened in 2005 to show the practical demonstration of the latest traceability systems and designed to support a variety of business needs across a range of industry sectors including Ports and Logistics, Food Manufacturing, Automotive, Cold Chain Supply and Retail.
100 years of specialist skills and traditional processes
Greater Grimsby is a major centre of forward-looking, innovative food companies – it is also a place where traditional skills are celebrated and protected.
Traditionally Smoked fish is a case in point. Today the majority of smoked fish is cured in mechanical kilns, but for a hundred years fish has been smoked in Grimsby in traditional smokehouses, where the main developments in the process took place.
The tradition and processes involved can be proven and demonstrated back to the late 19th century. Grimsby has been synonymous with fish smoking in the UK since 1850 prior too the railway first allowing the rapid transportation of fresh iced fish to London and eventually to every corner of the country.
There is nowhere that has a greater tradition of expertise in this process than Grimsby, which is why a local group of companies with the support of the Grimsby Fish Merchants Association and North East Lincolnshire Council has applied to the European Union to gain a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) for the product and recognition for its long history of curing.
The traditional fish curers taking part are Alfred Enderby Ltd, MTL Fish Curers, Atkinson FM, and Traditional Seafoods.