Also in the news / Seafood auction grant, quality award for Malakoff, vaccination programme and more…
A SHETLAND seafood company is investing in a project to improve services for whitefish landed by vessels at the Lerwick and Scalloway fish markets.
Shetland Seafood Auctions (SSA) secured a £17,715 contribution from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) for the development, which will create four new FTE jobs at he fish markets.
HIE’s money will enable the business to purchase new equipment to complement the recent increase in capacity at the newly developed fish markets.
The firm will invest in additional landing and weighing equipment as well as enhancing working conditions.
This will double handling capacity at both markets and improve both the shore side service offering and staff welfare.
Norma Williamson, sales and marketing manager at SSA, said: “SSA is forecasting steady growth in fish landings over the next three years.
“HIE’s funding gives us the opportunity to invest in new equipment to ensure the continuation of shore-based services to the whitefish vessels.”
LOCAL firm Malakoff says it has been awarded the 5% Club’s ‘Earn and Learn’ scheme quality award for its apprenticeship and training programmes.
It has been picked out of a selection of 66 small and medium sized companies in the UK.
It has been awarded following Malakoff’s completion of the 5% Club annual employer audit, where it was recognised as demonstrating the “best performance in terms of quality of scheme delivery and completion rates” regarding its earn and learn schemes.
These include modern apprenticeships, graduate apprenticeships and training programmes.
Malakoff HSQE manager Jessie Szego said: ‘We are proud of our investment in our staff members, which is why we joined the 5% Club.”
THE AUTUMN/winter vaccination programme has been running since early September and will continue into December.
So far, just over 60 per cent of people in Shetland who are eligible for a Covid vaccine booster have been vaccinated, and nearly 55 per cent of adults and 65 per cent of children have had their flu vaccine.
This means that nearly 10,000 people have had one or both vaccines.
Anyone who has not yet received an appointment can use the booking portal here https://www.nhsinform.scot/winter-vaccines/ to book one at the Grantfield Vaccination Centre in Lerwick. They can also contact the vaccination team on 01595 743319 or shet.vaccination-team@nhs.scot
There will also be walk-in clinics during December. The first one takes place this Saturday (2 December) from 9.30am – 4.30pm at Grantfield in Lerwick. This is in the Toll Clock car park, behind Bolts Garage.
CONCERN has been raised over staffing levels within Shetland Islands Council’s development directorate – with the department around 20 per cent down on full capacity.
Development director Neil Grant reiterated there are services within the directorate that cannot run without people, such as housing.
But he acknowledged that “we are continuing to lose people”.
Grant added at Wednesday’s development committee that as a result he expects there to be a “significant underspend” across the directorate come year end.
Shetland Central councillor Davie Sandison said the situation with staff vacancies in the SIC that “isn’t improving – it’s getting worse”.
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