While the fall in the pound since the Brexit vote has provided a boost for exporters a veteran of the fishing business sees opportunities to grow UK sales of a Scots product that does well in Europe.
Name:
Jimmy Buchan.
Age:
56.
What is your business called?
Amity Fish Co Limited.
Where is it based?
Peterhead, in wonderful Aberdeenshire.
What does it produce?
We are a fish trading company focused on sourcing wild-caught Scottish seafood for distribution throughout the UK.
Our main focus is Amity Scampi, which is named after my boat. It is frozen shell-on scampi tails from Scottish langoustine, which we hand-select and pack from the last day’s catch. I think they have a very subtle flavour with a more delicate texture than lobster.
To whom does it sell?
We sell to food service sectors with a significant amount of our turnover focused on supplying the offshore oil and gas sector. We are now expanding our sales throughout the UK, building on the quality of our products from sustainable fisheries.
What is its turnover?
£250,000 and growing.
How many employees?
Two.
When was it formed?
2010.
Why did you take the plunge?
Amity came about because of my passion for seafood. Being a fisherman all my life, I met a lot of people in the industry and I felt I had a platform to start a brand from sea to plate. I realised I wasn’t just catching fish but catching fish with a story of provenance and sustainability which gave me the inspiration to get into the seafood supply chain.
I’ve always thought that scampi was gravely undervalued in the UK - it’s seen as a cheap commodity whereas the market in Europe has flourished. While it’s allowed me to build my business, it was hard to accept that we were selling much of our prize catch, which is in abundance in the North Sea and around the west coast of Scotland, to our European cousins.
I’m no Captain Bird’s Eye or Young’s Seafood by any stretch of the imagination, but from small acorns come oak trees. The same passion and burn is in me now as a marketeer as when I was a fully-fledged fishing skipper.
What were you doing before you took the plunge?
A skipper with over 40 years at sea, catching a wide variety of seafood such as cod, haddock, plaice, lemon sole and langoustines.
Back in 1976, I was a young and enthusiastic 16 year old who had very little interest in anything academic. All I ever wanted to do was get out there and be a fisherman. The industry was absolutely buzzing and for a young lad, it was a great career choice but it was a huge culture shock. I went from being tied to my mother’s apron strings to working and living with men in a men’s world. It was a tough upbringing, but it was the making of me. I was always very focussed and after a few years I thought, right I don’t want to just be a fisherman, I want to be the skipper. After surviving challenges like violent storms, I became enough of an authority on the trade to be invited to star in the television series Trawlermen in 2009.
I continue to run the fishing vessel albeit under a new skipper who is the next generation. I’m proud to see young men taking the helm and ensuring the industry continues to thrive.
What was your biggest break?
Being invited to supply ESS offshore. Around 4,000 offshore workers are now fed with fish that swim directly below their feet!
What was your worst moment?
I’d say I’ve not yet had it. The business sets challenges every day so you learn to deal with them – that comes with experience. If you never try, you never fail – my motto is ‘try again and just fail better!’
What do you most enjoy about running the business?
The sense of satisfaction when your customers enjoy your products.
What do you least enjoy?
People who like to belittle others. You find a lot of that in business. We should be striving to help people and guide them.
What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help?
Government needs to encourage small firms to train new starts to aid in growing their business and to assist with innovation and value adding development in the industry. We need to lay these foundations before Brexit so we become leaders in the business world.
What was the most valuable lesson that you learned?
That a sale is not a sale until it’s paid in full. Small businesses can tend to learn this the hard way.
How do you relax?
I love family life and playing golf in the summer.
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