W & J Knox has sold its fibre and carpet yarn processing division to The Aquafil Group to enable the company to focus on its core activities of supplying netting and marine support services to the aquaculture industry.
Jim Traynor, managing director of W & J Knox, says this is great news for the Scottish fish farming industry as it will enable Knox to further develop and expand its net manufacturing and marine services portfolio to the aquaculture sector.
“This is an exciting development as it means we can focus all our resources on the aquaculture side of the business,” he said. “We have built our reputation as being a very service orientated business and this will be enhanced even further. It will also enable us to supply new types of netting and other equipment, as well as invest in our net maintenance and marine support services division.”
Following the agreement, Roger Dehany will retire from his role as general manager but will be retained by the company as a director. Marine director Dave Hutchens will move into the general manager role, with Finlay Oman remaining as technical sales director.
Recent new developments include the growing trend away from nylon to using tough HDPE netting on fish farm pens and the launch of Knox’s marine support division in 2008, which provides a wide range of workboat support services. The services portfolio includes a net maintenance unit.
