The UK Government has today announced a £1 million package to boost seafood exports and promote the industry’s high-quality produce overseas.

The package will target growing overseas markets and provide new export opportunities for the UK fishing industry and seafood sector following our departure from the European Union.

Global exports of UK seafood amounted to over £1.6 billion in 2021, with salmon the UK’s fourth top food and drink product exported in 2021, totalling around £730 million. The investment announced today will help grow seafood exports even further.

The Seafood Exports package will:

• identify new overseas buyers and connect them with UK seafood companies
• promote UK seafood at international events
• increase expertise on British seafood produce in our Embassies and Consulates overseas

Seafood specialists funded by the package will work closely with existing Agri-food and drink attachés who help broaden market access for UK businesses and resolve any technical barriers preventing businesses from reaching global markets. The specialists will bring vital insight to help address industry-specific challenges and offer a more tailored approach to promoting seafood in new and existing markets.

Fisheries Minister, Victoria Prentis, said:

We exported £1.6 billion worth of UK seafood in 2021 and we want this to increase. We are unlocking export opportunities in new markets around the world, and the £1 million we are announcing today will help seafood businesses across the UK take advantage of them.

Minister for Export, Mike Freer, said:

This funding will provide a real boost to businesses, particularly SMEs. It’s a genuine step change for current exporters, as well as those looking to access new seafood markets for the first time.

These new funds will strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader in the sector and enable more countries than ever to enjoy Great British seafood.

The UK Government is committed to working with businesses to help them succeed in the global marketplace through a first-class export support framework that will support jobs and economic growth across the UK.

This includes recently co-hosting a UK Seafood Pavilion at the Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, providing an opportunity for some UK businesses to exhibit at the show for the first time, as well as bolstering support for businesses with an already-established presence at the show.

Hannah Thompson, Head of International Trade and UK Regions (West) at Seafish, said:

The seafood sector in the UK has had a tough couple of years with the pandemic and some of the challenges of leaving the EU. It was a pleasure to support seafood businesses to get back in front of their global customers at the world’s biggest seafood trade show in Barcelona last month. The UK pavilion was a huge success and this new funding will give the sector another boost to help it showcase the high quality and sustainable seafood that comes from our passionate seafood producers in the UK.

Louise Kelly, Director at Edwin Jenkinson Limited, said:

The opportunity and support given by Seafish, Defra and DIT during out first time as exhibitor at the Global Seafood show was invaluable. Visiting as an exhibitor allowed us to meet face to face with all potential new clients and really understand their businesses, allowing our rapport to grow faster. Only one week later we are already exporting to new markets and have many more prospective clients!

This package complements the wide range of export support the UK Government already provides for the UK’s world leading food industry. Food and drink is an important part of our Made in the UK and Great campaigns, supported by HM Trade Commissioners, Trade Envoys and Export Champions.

• The £1 million investment is the final part of the £100m UK Seafood Fund. The UK Seafood Fund also includes the £24m science and innovation scheme which is helping to enhance the sustainability of the sector through data collection, research and innovation; at least £65m available to improve infrastructure and strengthen supply chains; and up to £10m for skills and training to generate new jobs and upskill fishermen.

Hospitals, shelters and other essential services will be given more power to operate in the face of ongoing Russian attacks with a further 287 mobile generators donated from the UK government.

It follows a request from the Ukrainian Ambassador Vadym Prystaiko who welcomed the previous shipment of generators by saying “the light will always win over darkness”.

This takes the total number of generators from the UK government to Ukraine to 856.

This follows an initial 569 generators from 5 UK companies who have all supplied mobile units to help Ukraine.

The new generators – enough to power the equivalent of around 8,000 additional homes – will be used for larger buildings such as hospitals and shelters following the brutal onslaught in Eastern Ukraine. The government has purchased these from Merseyside-based supplier Speedy Hire, with some of the 287 being loaded at a depot in Stoke-on-Trent.

Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said:

Putin’s atrocities have continued to escalate, and so we are ramping up our support to the Ukrainian people in their time of need. Our donation of a further 287 generators will ensure more essential services in Ukraine can keep running.

Russell Down, Chief Executive of Speedy, said:

Our position as the UK’s leading tools and equipment provider has enabled us to react promptly and assist the UK government in supporting the Ukrainian people.

The generators will be delivered to a Polish government hub. From there, the Ukrainian government and the country’s energy networks will distribute the generators across the country to where they are needed most.

As part of the ongoing effort to support Ukraine, the UK government has also introduced 2 time-limited exemptions to its international fossil fuel support policy, one applying to Ukraine, and one to Eastern Europe. The policy prevents the UK providing any new direct financial or promotional support for the fossil fuel energy sector overseas. These exemptions have been introduced to allow the UK to provide support for Ukraine’s energy and fuel needs.

This will mean the UK can join international efforts to address the regional energy security impact of the crisis in Ukraine and quickly respond to requests for assistance. These temporary measures could see the UK supporting Ukraine to ensure there is enough fuel for vehicles involved in food production and other basic services, and to help build up energy reserves ahead of winter.

However, the UK is clear that longer-term solutions in the region and globally must focus on clean energy, to prevent long-term dependence on fossil fuels. Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the vulnerability caused by our reliance on fossil fuels. Accelerating the shift to clean power generation is the most effective route to both climate and energy security.

Suppliers of initial 569 generators include:

• Generator Power
• Electricity North West
• Woodlands Power
• SP Energy Networks
• Finning

Members of the Ukraine Electricity Network Support Task Group include:

• Energy Networks Association
• Electricity North West
• Western Power Distribution
• UK Power Networks
• Northern PowerGrid
• Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks
• SP Energy Networks
• National Grid Electricity System Operator
• National Grid Electricity Transmission

On 31 March 2021, the UK government implemented its policy to no longer provide any new direct financial or promotional support for the fossil fuel energy sector overseas.

About Speedy Hire Plc

Founded in 1977, Speedy is the UK’s leading provider of tools and equipment hire services to a wide range of customers in the construction, infrastructure and industrial markets, as well as to local trade and industry.

It has often been said about propaganda that a lie told often enough becomes the truth.

We have a duty to stop that from happening.

The Russian Federation systematically attempts to spread false narratives about neo-Nazis and imaginary NATO threats against Russia to justify its illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

But it won’t succeed because the facts tell a different story.

The truth is:

• Russia was responsible for the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014
• Russia instigated and fuelled a secessionist conflict in Eastern Ukraine, which dragged on for almost 8 years, and led to the deaths of over 13,000 people
• Russian-backed separatists, with a Russian BUK missile, shot down Malaysian flight MH17 over Ukraine, killing 298 innocent civilians; and then
• Russia amassed over 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s border, under the false pretence of exercises, and launched a full-scale, unprovoked, premeditated attack against a sovereign democratic state

This invasion has been overwhelmingly condemned by the international community and the Ukrainian people have resisted it heroically.

The Kremlin uses disinformation operations to undermine Ukrainian sovereignty, to create false pretexts, to obscure the truth, and to hide the brutality of its assault on Ukraine’s people.

Today’s meeting is a further example.

All credible allegations of crimes on the territory of Ukraine should be investigated. We are supporting the Ukrainian Prosecutor General with her investigations into war crimes, as well as the work of the ICC.

We welcome President Zelenskyy’s commitment that the perpetrators of all war crimes in Ukraine should face justice. There is no such commitment from the Russian regime.

This is because Russian forces are perpetrating heinous crimes in their desperation to claim military victory. In Irpin, Bucha, Mariupol and elsewhere, Russians have murdered civilians and buried them in mass graves. Russia has attacked schools sheltering civilians, and abducted and forcibly removed Ukrainians to Russia. These are acts of desperation as Putin fails to achieve his objectives in Ukraine.

In the face of Russian aggression, we must remain resolute in our support for a free, sovereign and independent Ukraine, in our defense of the UN Charter, and in our determination to counter Russian attempts to debase the United Nations as a forum for disinformation.

We must never allow Russian lies to become the truth.

Thank you.