Seamark Group

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Seamark Group's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Seamark Group is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

www.seamark.co.uk

1SEAMARK GROUP |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE

Chairman and Chief Executive

Iqbal Ahmed OBE

Black tiger shrimps – our

signature dish

Seamark started life as a grocery store selling meat, vegetables

and fish in the UK, and over four decades it has developed

into a multinational company. It now has operations in the

UK, Bangladesh and USA and suppliers across Asia, with a UK

turnover of £100 million via activities covering food processing,

distribution, cash and carry, restaurant and banqueting. The

original business was established by Chairman and Chief Executive

Iqbal Ahmed OBE’s father in 1976. Iqbal explains how Seamark

enjoyed a reputation for being convenient, with longer opening

hours than competitors, a reputation on which it has built.

Black tiger, freshwater and vannamei shrimps are our speciality but we also supply

squid, scallops, pangasius, tilapia, seabass and seafood mixes throughout the food

service industry. Over 70 per cent of our production is exported, as a result of

which we have been awarded the Queen’s Award as well as numerous national

and trade awards. Our success is founded on our core values of customer service,

quality, innovation, social responsibility and sustainability.

From humble beginnings

The store flourished on the back of the burgeoning Asian population and the growing

taste for curry and exotic flavours; Afro-Caribbean and Kenyan products were added

to the range and the international dimension to the business had been established.

The first innovation that changed the business was to move away from dry ingredients

such as rice and spices into frozen products and particularly king prawns; we were

responsible for introducing the black tiger prawn into Europe. We began to import

FACTS ABOUT

SEAMARK GROUP

»Chairman and Chief Executive:

Iqbal Ahmed OBE

»Incorporated in 1991

»Located in Manchester

»Services: Deep-frozen seafood,

cash and carrys, restaurants

and banqueting

»No. of employees: 277

»Past winner of Queen’s Award

for exports

»www.seamark.co.uk

Seamark Group

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

2| SEAMARK GROUP

full containers of frozen seafood, and in

order to process and distribute them we

needed to invest in infrastructure; we

did this with our first factory and cold

store in Openshaw, Manchester, which

was followed by further factories in the

Greater Manchester area, each time

increasing in size and capacity to meet

the growing demand for our products.

Unwilling to stand still, we saw the

opportunity to take advantage of

industrial development in Asia and

the Indian sub-continent to enhance

our service and invested in a custom-

built processing plant in Chittagong,

Bangladesh. This processes 80 tonnes

of seafood a day and one million

shrimps an hour, powered by our own

generators. Our registered brands

– Mr Prawn Lilly, Ibco and Tiger –

are household names throughout

Europe and we protect the quality

with British Retail Consortium Grade

A certification and rigorous quality

assurance in-house and throughout

the supplychain.

Exports have been the path to

growth because the volumes available

reduce the costs; however, trading

with Europe in the early days was

problematic because of the range of

clearance procedures and proliferation

of documents, and so the advent of

the single market was very much a

game changer. The growth in exports

that followed enabled us to invest in

further premises in east Manchester.

We are proud of the part we have

played in the regeneration of this

area of Manchester following the

Commonwealth Games in 2002, which

has seen us invest in a state-of-the-art

cold store and warehouse, head office,

cash and carry and our Thai-themed

fusion restaurant Vermilion, located a

short distance from Manchester City’s

Etihad Stadium and training complex.

Corporate social responsibility

We are proud of our commitment to

social responsibility, which extends

from product procurement through

operations and employment to our

activities in the communities in which

we operate. We are careful to source

our raw materials from environmentally

sustainable sources in compliance

with best aquaculture practice, which

combines food safety, traceability,

audits and a code of conduct based

on standards set by the Ethical Trading

Initiative. Within our operations,

processing is carried out in accordance

with hazard analysis and critical control

point protocols, and we are committed

to the United Nations Universal

Declaration of Human Rights and the

International Labour Organization,

which seeks to promote social justice

and labour rights. We have invested

in SA800 certification, which covers

Our Vermilion Hall seats

1,000

A small selection of our

vast range of products

Our success is

founded on

our core

values of

customer

service,

quality, social

responsibility

and

sustainability

“

3SEAMARK GROUP |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE

child labour, working conditions and

remuneration.

The success of business has been

shared with the communities in which

we operate, with our heavy investment

in the Sportcity area of Manchester,

making a major contribution to the

regeneration of the area and to

charitable work for local hospitals.

In Bangladesh we have sponsored a

local cancer hospital and high school,

engaged in flood and refugee relief

and have formed the Iqbal Brothers

Foundation, a relief and development

charity focusing on healthcare,

sanitation and education.

Managing uncertainty

We have built our business through the

development of markets throughout

Europe and have been helped in this

by the existence of the single market

and customs union, which has made

serving export markets no more

complicated than domestic trade. The

decision to leave the EU therefore has

had major implications for us and while

we have never been daunted by the

challenge, the prolonged uncertainty

over the form Brexit would take has

made forward planning immensely

difficult. We have undertaken scenario

planning and remain ready to respond

to whatever the final outcome is.

We purchase our products mainly in

US dollars and therefore the volatility

in the exchange rate has presented

further challenges through its impact

on purchase prices, competitiveness

and financial liabilities. Fortunately, as

a family-owned business we are able

to take a longer-term view and ride

out short-term fluctuations.

Our success as a business has enabled

us to invest over £18 million in fixed

assets, and we have paid over £6

million in corporation tax. Still, we

remain eager to grow. We have

opened significant new markets in

Eastern Europe and have set our sights

on the Middle East, Africa and China,

and we introduced new stir fry ready

meals at the 2018 Seafood Global

exhibition in Brussels. We have two

cash and carry outlets and plan to

open more, while our new Vermilion

Hall banqueting and wedding suite

with capacity for up to 1,000 provides

a unique and unrivalled facility,

enabling us to offer a true ocean-to-

table service.

The success of

the business

has been

shared with

the

communities

in which we

operate

“

We supply the shrimps

our customers want

www.seamark.co.uk

This article was sponsored by Seamark Group. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from Rt Hon Michael Gove.

Rt Hon Michael Gove's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By Rt Hon Michael Gove

This year's Parliamentary Review comes at a momentous time for parliament, as we collectively determine the destiny of the United Kingdom.

On October 31, the UK will leave the European Union. The successful implementation of this process is this government's number-one priority.

Three years after a historic referendum vote, we will deliver on the decisive mandate from the British people. Trust in our democracy depends on it. Until that final hour, we will work determinedly and diligently to negotiate a deal, one that abolishes the backstop and upholds the warm and close relationship we share with our friends, allies and neighbours in the EU. But in the event that the EU refuses to meet us at the table, we must be prepared to leave without a deal.

As the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, it is my job to lead on this government's approach, should that scenario happen. Preparing for Brexit is my department's driving mission. But while I am leading this turbocharged effort, the whole of government is committed to this endeavour.

Ministers across Whitehall are working together to ensure that every possibility is considered, every plan is scrutinised and every provision is made. A daily drumbeat of meetings means that we are holding departments accountable, so that preparations are completed on time.

The chancellor has confirmed that all necessary funding will be made available. And we have mobilised thecivil service, assigning 15,000 of our most talented civil servants to manage our exit from the EU.

We will make sure that on November 1, there is as little disruption to national life as possible. Our trade relationships will continue to thrive, thanks to agreements with countries around the world worth £70 billion. Our country will remain secure, thanks to nearly 1,000 new officers posted at our borders. And the 3.2 million EU nationals now living and working among us can remain confident, with absolute certainty, of their right to remain in the UK.

Above all, our goal is to be transparent. Soon, we will launch a public information campaign so that citizens, communities and businesses are ready and reassured about what will happen in the event of “no deal”.

In my first few weeks in this role, I have travelled to ports and tarmacs, borders and bridges, all across the UK –from the seaside of Dover to the rolling green hills of County Armagh. I have heard from business owners and border officials, farmers and hauliers. They are ready to put an end to uncertainty. And they are ready to embrace the opportunities ahead.

Our departure from the EU will be a once in a lifetime chance to chart a new course for the United Kingdom. Preparing for that new course will be a herculean effort. But this country has made astounding efforts before. We can do it again.

Rt Hon Michael Gove
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster