Seafood processor Flatfish has bought home delivery specialist Regal Fish Supplies, a neighbouring Grimsby business.
The Japanese-backed entity, led by Stansfield family, has swooped for the direct sales operation which has processing facilities on Thorold Street, along from where Flatfish has massively expanded a former bakery site.
Regal, headquartered in Barton, takes telephone and online orders from across the UK, and boasts a customer-base of 70,000, with a fleet of vans and an 86-strong team serving up the town’s famous dishes. It launched in 1989, 10 years after Steve Stansfield, now joined by brother Richard and son Reece, set out his first stall on the old pontoon.
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Steve Stansfield, chief executive, said: “Both businesses have long histories in Grimsby and the local area with Flatfish established in 1979 and Regal Fish in 1989 and now, with the backing of Nissui, look forward to driving growth in the future.”
Retailer-focused Flatfish moved to Stirling Street in 2002, expanding in phases over the 20 years it has now been located there, with several awards leading to a best-in-class exemplar status. It is now a £40 million turnover operation, employing more than 130 people. It has contracted vessels catching exclusively for the operation, which itself caught the attention of global giant Nissui in 2019.
Regal, initially purely sales, survived a devastating fire at its then-Barton High Street office in late 2009, with an arson attack on a neighbouring restaurant hitting the busiest time of the year. It quickly relocated administration - chiefly a call centre operation - to a former Bakkavor office in the town, where it has remained to this day, on Ardent Road, off Falkland Way.
In 2012 it acquired an old pallet yard in Grimsby, splitting it with Carrera Engineering and opening a purpose-built fish processing plant as well as cold storage facilities, just off the port estate and in easy reach of the market and other operators in the cluster. It was a move described as allowing it to be its “own masters” when it came to seafood needs.
Regal has just introduced a new range, with the Made Great in Grimsby branding now carried. A full range of fresh species are supplied, prepared by its filleters and packers.
Glen Firth, David Porter, Graham Sopp and Trevor Wheller have all stepped down as directors following the undisclosed deal, with the three Stansfields, Daniel Gallou, Naoto Sato and Tomoteru Iehara all taking on the responsibilities. It is thought the company will add sales of between £10 million to £12 million.
Simon Dwyer, who represents the cluster, believes the business will be a great fit. He said: “Regal is a strong business and it has a good track record of sustainable sourcing. It has been excellent in making some fantastic seafood products which it sends every week to thousands of customers across the UK. It is good news for Grimsby that Flatfish and Nissui have made the acquisition.”
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