AN Italian company has pulled out of Maryport, leaving the threat of redundancies.

Blue Line International UK was renting space in the Harbourside Products building, which specialises in smoked salmon and salmon products.

Harbourside boss Richard Hodgson said the withdrawal meant there were some redundancies.

But some of the staff have been taken on by Grants Oak Smoked factory.

General manager Michelle Ingham said: "We have taken on four people. Others were scheduled for interviews but got their jobs back at Harbourside.

"Once a rumour goes around about one fish factory in the town, people will always get muddled.

"We are doing fine here and we are certainly not closing down."

Mr Hodgson had a similar message. He emphasised that the factory itself was not closing: "In some ways, this is a help because it means we can expand our own operation."

Harbourside started up as Brookside, a family-owned company, in 1987.

Times and Star: BrooksideBrookside

In 2010 Polish company Morpol, the largest salmon processor in the world bought the company in a move that was hailed as good news for the town and West Cumbria as a whole.

When Morpol to a new base in Scotland, the building was left empty.

Mr Hodgson, one of the original family owners said: "We still owned the building. Instead of seeing it lying empty my partner and I reopened."

At the height of its operations, Brookside employed over 1,000 people. The new company has around 50 workers, including those working on Blue Line products.

In 2020, Harbourside Products spent two years and over £200,000 reinventing the way it smokes its fish and creating a whole new range of premium pâtés and terrines.

It also enabled Harbourside to invent an entirely new way of slicing smoked salmon in order to reduce wastage.

The company has also won awards for its products.

Mayor of Maryport, Peter Kendall said: "I am delighted to hear that the factory will continue working.

"Any redundancies would be a devastating blow for Maryport. 

"This town really needs to see the Governments levelling-up strategy at work. This town really needs some serious investment from the government and we need it now."