SEAFOOD AND TOURISM

Seafood and tourism: Lincolnshire Show highlights vital and ‘exciting’ business sectors. Seventy-five years old this year and now visited by 75,000 people annually – Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway marked its milestone anniversary with North East Lincolnshire Council at the Lincolnshire Show.

With his Bonnie Dundee engine outside the Greater Lincolnshire Councils’ marquee, CCLR co-owner Peter Bryant spoke to council leader Cllr Philip Jackson about the business and its future. (Cllr Jackson is pictured with Deputy Leader Cllr Stan Shreeve and fellow Cabinet member Cllr Stephen Harness).

Peter came to Cleethorpes and the CCLR a decade ago and has developed the line and its surrounding attractions with his business partner John Kerr, who looks after their other venture in Scarborough.

“This is our passion. Cleethorpes has a great deal to offer, and we are excited about some of the projects going ahead in the town,” said Peter.

As reported £18.4m of Government LUF monies will be invested in Market Square, Sea Road and Pier Gardens, after a successful bid by North East Lincolnshire Council.

Cllr Jackson thanked all the business owners in Cleethorpes for their contributions to the resort’s success and encouraged them to be active in their views – working with the council to ensure positive regeneration and development.

“When you look at the resorts along our east coast, we see Cleethorpes as a real jewel in the crown. Its re-invention over the last decade has been evident and continues. The people at CCLR are just one example of many who have contributed to the growth in our resort,” he said.

Grimsby’s seafood sector was also a focus of interest at this year’s show. The Greater Lincolnshire Councils’ marquee hosted a packed UK Food Valley agri-food event attended by Cllr Jackson, Deputy Leader Cllr Stan Shreeve and the Borough’s Mayor Cllr Ian Lindley.

Representing the Grimsby Seafood Cluster, Simon Dwyer, told the audience how 5,000 people were employed in the sector, with another 10,500 working in the supply chain – cold storage, transport, and packaging. It is Europe’s seafood processing largest cluster.

With key opportunities on the horizon, including innovative developments with the University of Lincoln, the future was bright, he said.

“The future of the seafood sector in Grimsby is exciting. World and global leaders have a foothold here with some of the largest businesses from Iceland and Norway investing in Grimsby,” said Simon.

He reminded people about the value of eating more fish – the average fish consumption in the UK is 1.16 portions a week and that is worth £2-billion to Grimsby annually.

“Getting people to eat fish more often is good for Grimsby,” he said.

Following the event, Cllr Jackson said:

“What we saw at the show today were two fantastic examples of local business sectors – tourism and seafood – that are providing opportunity locally and from a wider Greater Lincolnshire, Humber and even international perspective.”