Salmon farmers among Scotland's top 50 companies
Two Scottish salmon farmers, Marine Harvest Scotland and Scottish Sea Farms, have been ranked among the top 50 businesses in Scotland by Business Insider magazine.
MH Scotland, a newcomer in the rankings, is placed at 43, and Scottish Sea Farms is ranked at 49, up from 105 last year. Both companies are Norwegian-owned, but are registered in the UK and pay their taxes to the UK and Scottish governments.
The salmon farming companies are the only two food producers to make the top 50, although whisky distillers William Grant and French-owned Chivas Brothers are in the top 10.
Scott Landsburgh, chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation, said: “This achievement acknowledges their excellent business performance but also speaks to the importance of salmon farming to the Scottish economy.
Social and economic value
“While salmon has long been established as Scotland’s top food export, itis now the UK’s top food export with an estimated export value of over £600m in 2017. However, the social and economic value of the industry beyond that cannot be overlooked. Salmon farming employment and career development opportunities in the rural Highlands and Islands support not just jobs but other businesses, schools, sports and civic life.”
The Scottish Salmon Company and fish feed suppliers Biomar and EWOS are also ranked within the top 500 companies in Scotland.
Energy company SSE retained its top spot on the Business Insider list for the third year running. The Perth-based utility boosted its profit to £1.77bn from £593.3m previously on turnover up to £29.03bn from £28.78bn.
Standard Life Aberdeen, formed by the merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management, was ranked at second place, with another financial services company, Scottish Widows, in third place, Bank of Scotland fourth and Scottish Power fifth.
