Grimsby Fish Market will be well represented at the world’s largest seafood event this month.

Fresh from celebrating 30 years of the modernised facility, the operating group’s incoming chief executive, Andrew Oliver, operations director Danny Payne and sales director Nelson Hunter will be hitting the exhibition halls in Barcelona for Seafood Expo Global / Seafood Processing Global.

The business-to-business trade event, now a fixture in the Spanish city following a move from Brussels, unites seafood buyers and professionals from 154 countries, representing all aspects of the supply chain, be it product or process.

2026 is the largest yet, with 52,950 sq m of exhibition space confirmed for the 32nd edition, with five halls featuring 2,300 companies showcasing their products and services from 86 countries, with 65 national and regional pavilions also booked in.

Mr Oliver, who served as chair of GFDE for four years before succeeding Martyn Boyers as CEO this month, said: “The Barcelona event is a great opportunity to reacquaint with industry contacts, meet suppliers and learn more about other markets elsewhere. The networking is incredible. To achieve what we intend to, you could be travelling around the globe for weeks, but everyone converges on Barcelona, and we are all together.”

A maritime lawyer with a significant specialism in fisheries, he is very familiar with the event, and Grimsby’s resonance on the international stage. “The first show I ever went to, there was a stand with just a picture of the Dock Tower, and people walked up and said ‘Grimsby’ with assured nods. Grimsby has still got a great reputation in the industry, and rightly so.”

While the whitefish outlook at a conference featuring some 90 global industry experts will be of significant interest, the team are also exploring the potential for new facilities to widen the service provision at Grimsby Fish Market. The event provides an opportunity to progress that with contacts, while funding pots are explored back in the UK.

A six-figure investment could see new skip-washing equipment installed at the Wharncliffe Road site, increasing volumes it can handle for its Icelandic suppliers.

The skips contain the fish that arrives in containers at Port of Immingham, from where they are transported to the market and graded, ready for auction and direct sale to businesses in the cluster. Empty skips are then returned as part of a closed loop system.

“It is demand-led, we’ve been asked to do it,” Mr Payne said. “We have started with industrial power-washing, last year we did 26,000 boxes, but with the new equipment we’ll be able to do 35,000 to 40,000 – more if we desire. It would be a positive move for us in terms of the environment and efficiencies; it isn’t an easy job, and staff welfare is a key priority.”

Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global takes place on Tuesday, April 21 – Thursday, April 23, at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Vía Venue.

Anyone keen to meet with Grimsby Fish Market representatives in Barcelona should email info@grimsbyfishmarket.co.uk in the first instance.