Swan Net Gundry (SNG) have officially opened a new net loft and stores in Lerwick, enhance their current facilities and services, and allowing the company to extend its area of operations.
The addition of Lerwick to the network in Europe and North America is a vital link for its ever-growing business in northern Europe.
Speaking at the opening ceremony where local skippers and crews enjoyed a seafood buffet prepared by Helen Jane Fullerton of Hel’s Kitchen, SNG General Manager Evelyn Kierans said that the ties between Swan Net Gundry and the Shetland fishing industry go back over thirty years.
‘This has always been a very strong and loyal base for us and it is great that we will now be able to enhance this excellent service base for the local fleet and any visiting vessels landing or arrivingR03; in Shetland,’ she said.
‘We are delighted with this new depot in Shetland which is testament, not only to the support of our loyal customer base but also to the dedication, commitment and drive of our talented workforce.’
The new net loft provides SNG with a strategic base for supplying fishing vessels from Shetland, Scotland, Ireland and mainland Europe, particularly when gear repairs are required while fishing off the Scottish and Shetland coasts.
SNG Lerwick manager, Nigel Tulloch, himself with many years’ experience of pelagic fishing, said that being able to offer local and visiting vessels a 24-7 service for a quick turnaround back to the fishing grounds will be a great service for the catching sector.
‘We stock a selection of high quality materials for all net repairs such as DynIce ropes, nylon netting for the wings and back-end of the trawls and brailers,’ he said.
‘For inshore customers, we have a selection of pots and ropes which can sometimes interest crews on board those vessels, for use on their own inshore boats in Norway or Denmark,’ he said, adding that this range of gear in stock also incorporates a large stock of diversified products such as chandlery and other necessary hardware.
The new SNG Lerwick depot has 525 square metres of space on the ground floor, plus and an additional 157.50 square metres on the upper level as well as a 570 square metre storage area. There is also a 15 x 200m exterior runway to give work area for net repairs.
