We lease 48ha (119 acres) of land from the Stornoway Trust. Since it took over the lease in 1999, we have invested £23m including installing and upgrading rolling and welding equipment at the fabrication yard. There are currently three tenants at the park – BiFab, Scottish Salmon Company and Hebridean Seaweed.
The site has been developed as a prime location of the renewable energy sector. It offers excellent opportunities for national and international investments in both the renewable energy and oil and gas sectors. The site provides a range of fully serviced plots with deep water and heavy load quay facilities with great connectivity and sea and air links.
The yard at Arnish is established as an efficient facility for the production of pipes, piles, monopiles and devices for the energy industry. Plans are underway to extend the quay at Arnish, which currently has a water depth of 6.5m, by providing improved facilities for ships over 156m in length that cannot currently berth alongside.
Canadian company DF Barnes, owners of fabrication firm BiFab, lease the facility. With a highly skilled workforce in the Outer Hebrides, and as a key player in the offshore wind supply chain, BiFab has the expertise to deliver major contracts for the sector.
Seaweed processor Hebridean Seaweed, invested in a new factory at Arnish and now employs around 20 people. The company harvests Ascophyllum nodosum – better known as knotted wrack which is completely sustainable and organic. It supplies markets all over the world and demand for its products is increasing. We awarded funding of £359,000 in early 2019 as part of the firm’s £7m expansion.
Scottish Salmon Company is another tenant based at Arnish. It operates a harvesting station employing around 20 people at the site and also operates a processing plant at Marybank near Stornoway where it employs more staff. The company produces high quality salmon fillets for export all over the world. SSC employs more than 500 people and operates 60 sites across the west coast and the Hebrides.
