News: UK Fisheries appoints Sir Barney White-Spunner to chair Advisory Board

HULL – UK Fisheries, the Hull company that operates the nation’s northern external waters fishing fleet, is delighted to announce the appointment of Sir Barney White-Spunner as Chairman of its Advisory Board, providing the company with strategic guidance in making the most of the opportunities offered in a post-Brexit environment. 

Sir Barney, whose distinguished military career culminated as Commander of the British Field Army, has significant experience in working to further British interests in areas such as food supply. From 2012 to 2016 he was Executive Chairman of The Countryside Alliance, the organisation that campaigns to promote and protect all those who live and work in the countryside and rural communities.

“It’s an absolute privilege for me to take on this role at this key time in the history of our fishing industry. While the coming months and years will offer their fair share of challenges to inshore and offshore fishermen of every type, Brexit will also undoubtedly offer great opportunities to British companies like UK Fisheries who are strong and far-sighted enough to seize them,” Sir Barney said. 

UK Fisheries operates the state-of-the-art fishing vessel Kirkella and the smaller Farnella from Hull. The ice class and sophisticated technology of these ships allow them to fish in distant waters off Norway, Greenland, Iceland and the Faroes, fishing for Britain’s favourite species such as cod and haddock.

Jane Sandell, CEO of UK Fisheries, said Sir Barney’s experience and track record of promoting British interests made him an outstanding candidate for the role.

“We’re the largest investor in the UK’s distant fishing fleet and we’ve made a real contribution to ensuring that there’s British fish in the nation’s chippies for decades. I’m really looking forward to working with Sir Barney and the Advisory Board as we chart a course for UK Fisheries through Brexit and beyond.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Sir Barney White-Spunner is a former regular soldier whose military career culminated as Commander of the British Field Army. He has led British and Multinational forces in a wide variety of countries, and most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan.  From 2012 to 2016 he was Executive Chairman of The Countryside Alliance, the organisation that campaigns to promote and protect all those who live and work in the countryside and rural communities. Working closely with DEFRA and government agencies, his tenure focused on affordable housing, rural telecommunications and developing traditional industries. 

He has written extensively on rural affairs and military history. Knighted in 2011, he is also an Honorary Legionnaire in the French Foreign Legion and a member of the United States Order of Merit. Married, with three children, he lives in Dorset. His publications include Horse Guards (2006), the story of the Household Cavalry; Of Living Valour (2015), the story of the British soldiers at Waterloo and Partition (2017), an account of Indian Independence and the birth of Pakistan.

UK Fisheries is a Hull based company that is effectively Britain’s distant waters fishing fleet in the northern external waters. The company is the largest investor in the UK’s distant waters fleet  and provides jobs for more than 80 trawlermen in the UK, mainly from the Humberside area, In 2017 UK Fisheries landed the equivalent of 15 million portions  of fish to the UK market.

UK Fisheries is firmly committed to the UK fishing industry and has recently launched Kirkella, a state-of-the-art trawler replacing an older vessel. 

The company is committed to the sustainability of fish stocks of the northern Atlantic and the communities that benefit from them. 

For more information contact Trevor Datson, +44 7940 571323, trevor.datson@etoilepartners.com