A fish-processing business that rose from the ashes of Brookside Products in Maryport is prospering.

Harbourside Products opened on the former Brookside site in Glasson Industrial Estate in April last year.

Cumbria Growth Fund provided £30,000 towards the £100,000 project, which now employs nearly 60 people.

Richard Hodgson, director of Harbourside Products, was a director of Brookside when it closed in 2014 with the loss of 64 jobs. A change of approach has seen Harbourside grow steadily.

Mr Hodgson said: "We started from scratch. We had no machinery, no customers and no staff. We got some of our old customers back but we still needed machinery and the Growth Fund money helped us to buy new and second hand equipment.

"The buildings always belonged to the Brookside pension fund so we retained them. We felt it was such a waste having the buildings standing empty so we decided to try to start up again on a small scale.

"We offer a service now, rather than buying in and processing our own fish. We do the work for others.

"We smoke, slice and pack salmon for customers in France, Italy, the UK and we are just starting to get into Switzerland."

He added: “We’ve learned a lot from Brookside. We’re more self reliant and have more control over the business. Production is growing all the time. This week we turned out 10 tonnes, which is very good for us.

"The recent weekly average is probably about seven to eight tonnes. Two months ago it was probably four to five tonnes.

"Quite a few of the old staff came back, probably about 50 per cent are ex-Brookside. We’ve taken on 15 staff in the last month as well. We have 57 staff and are looking for between five and 10 more."

The Cumbria Growth Fund is a £4m pot that allows businesses to access money from the Government's Regional Growth Fund. It allows those in manufacturing, including artisan producers, or those in services to apply for grants of between £10,000 and £1m.

The scheme is administered by Cumbria Chamber of Commerce. For information, see www.cumbriachamber.co.uk or call 01946 592329.