Sykes Seafood agrees acquisition of Ruskim Seafoods

Founded in 1862, privately-owned Sykes focuses on supplying retail and foodservice customers. Ruskim is a food importer and distributor founded in 1982 serving the UK & Ireland and also supplies prawns to Asian foodservice customers. It has grown to become one of the leading importers and distributers of seafood, meat and poultry in Europe, with seven depots across the UK and Ireland.

The acquisition builds on Sykes' acquisition of Klaas Puul, the Dutch Seafood Company's shrimp business, in March 2020 and looks set to add more than £100m to its annual turnover.

Ruskim, together with Sykes Seafood and Klaas Puul, would create a $500m pan-European shrimp-focused seafood business supplying retail, wholesale, industry and foodservice customers, according to Sykes. The combined businesses will operate five manufacturing sites across the UK, Europe, and Morocco as well as ten distribution centres in the UK and Europe employing more than 3,900 colleagues.

Synergies and similarities​

The three businesses already share many synergies and similarities according to Sykes, providing a solid backdrop for future growth and allowing greater efficiencies in sourcing and an enhanced delivery platform to old and new customers.

Ruskim, which operates a factory in Liverpool will have access to Sykes and Klaas Puul’s automated production facilities. Sykes and Klaas Puul will benefit from access to Ruskim's extensive depot and transport network.

“Ruskim is a business we have long admired, and Bill and his family have built a fantastic business over the last 40 years,"​ Alan Dale, group chief executive officer at Sykes Seafood, said. "The Sykes Seafood and Klaas Puul team very much look forward to working with Ruskim’s customers, suppliers, and colleagues to continue to build on the foundations that have been laid by the Mooney family over the last four decades.”​

Major seafood importer and distributor​

Bill Mooney, managing director at Ruskim Seafood, said: “Over the past 40 years, we have established Ruskim as a major importer and distributor of seafood, with trading partners throughout the world. We are now excited to be joining Alan and his colleagues at Sykes, which will enable Ruskim to improve and expand its operations by utilising the processing plants operated by Sykes and Klaas Puul and to share their extensive network of suppliers.”​

Klaas Puul is a leading shrimp processor in Europe with its headquarters in Volendam. The company was founded in 1968 and operates production facilities in the Netherlands, its own shrimp peeling facilities in Morocco and North Sea Shrimp landing stations in Germany and Denmark. It is best known for its North Sea shrimp, tropical shrimp and shrimp-related products, offering a broad product range for customers across Europe.