BIM Highlights Advisory Programme as McBrides Plan for Next Generation  

Seafood businesses across Ireland are being encouraged to strengthen their competitiveness and prepare for future challenges through BIM’s Seafood Business Advisory Programme.

Seafood businesses can access expert support for financial management, succession planning, and mergers and acquisitions.

The programme provides practical, tailored support to help seafood businesses improve profitability and long-term sustainability. With an estimated 85 per cent of Irish seafood businesses family owned, it also helps guide companies through succession planning, an issue Donegal crab and lobster producer McBride Fishing has been working through as it hands the business from the second to the third generation (see case study below).

Brothers Hugh and Peter McBride, who lead the company, say the programme gave them the space and expertise to start planning early rather than waiting until retirement was imminent, working through financial planning, family agreements, shareholder arrangements, governance and taxation with BIM’s advisors. “By investing time in succession planning early, we are confident that the business will remain resilient, innovative and competitive well into the future with a great team at the helm,” the brothers said.

Three areas of support

A panel of experienced business advisors works directly with individual companies to identify areas for improvement and support the implementation of cost-effective solutions. The knowledge and experience gained through the programme will help strengthen the wider seafood sector by sharing best practice and building industry resilience.

The programme offers support across three disciplines: helping seafood businesses improve financial performance to plan for long-term sustainability; preparing for succession, so family-owned enterprises can successfully transition to the next generation or exit; and business mergers and acquisitions.

One of the key areas of support is financial performance, where advisors work alongside businesses to understand exactly where profits are being made and where they may be leaking away. This includes a detailed financial health check, identifying opportunities to reduce costs, strengthen sales and introduce practical financial management tools that support better day-to-day and strategic decision-making.

Advisors work alongside businesses to help implement recommendations, ensuring improvements become embedded within day-to-day operations and deliver lasting benefits.

BIM: “practical, tailored support”

BIM CEO Richard Donnelly said: “Ireland’s seafood industry continues to operate in an increasingly challenging environment, with businesses facing rising costs and changing markets. The Seafood Business Advisory Programme is designed to give seafood companies access to experienced financial advisors who understand the realities of the sector and can provide practical, tailored support that delivers measurable improvements.”

“Whether the priority is improving profitability, planning for the next generation of leadership, or mergers, the programme gives businesses an opportunity to step back, identify opportunities and build stronger, more resilient operations for the future.”

He added: “One important area of support is succession planning. Most Irish seafood businesses are family owned, with two or sometimes even three generations working together. Planning on handing over to a new generation is vital.”

How to apply

Businesses interested in accessing the programme should contact Gavin McGrath, Commercial Operations Executive, BIM, at gavin.mcgrath@bim.ie to discuss the opportunities or challenges they would like to address.

Case study: McBride Fishing plans for the next generation

McBride Fishing, based in Downings, Co Donegal, is one of Ireland’s leading live brown crab producers with a history of continuous innovation. The business is transitioning from second-generation to third-generation family ownership.

Since 1990, the company has reshaped the Irish brown crab industry, moving from a fragmented inshore fishery into a modern, integrated offshore business supplying premium seafood to customers around the world. Today McBride Fishing runs three modern vessels, Heather Jane II, Peadar Elaine II and Amy Jane II, producing around 2,000 tonnes of premium brown crab and European blue lobster each year. Catching is only part of the operation: the company has also built an integrated international supply chain that moves live seafood quickly and efficiently from the fishing grounds to customers across Europe and Asia.

Brothers Hugh and Peter McBride have led the business for decades and began working through succession planning with support from BIM’s Seafood Business Advisory Programme. The process focused on building the experience and expertise of the next generation, Luke (Hugh’s son), Brian (Peter’s son) and nephew William Spence, while also securing financial independence for the founders.

Luke McBride is the company’s International Sales Director, having joined from ABP four years ago after a master’s degree in food marketing. Pete McBride Jnr is Business Operations Director and has worked in the business for more than fifteen years, having qualified with a degree in IT. Brian McBride has spent 20 years at sea, rising to Skipper of Peadar Elaine II, and is now transitioning to become Head of Fishing Operations. William Spence, trained as an engineer, is now an experienced Skipper on Heather Jane II.

For the McBride family, succession is not just about who inherits the business. The key aims are leaving the business in a strong position with a clear strategy, financially robust, with the right people, family and non-family, in the right leadership roles, and treated fairly. Creating financial independence for the retiring generation and protecting the business and the next generation from tax bills that could force the sale of company assets, is also central, and the family found the succession retirement reliefs available to family businesses an invaluable part of the discussion through the BIM programme.

As the McBride brothers put it: “Our goal is to leave the next generation free to focus on the future of the industry and the business and not preoccupied by unresolved internal issues.”

The family added: “Participating in BIM’s Seafood Supports Programme has been an invaluable guide on succession planning. Through practical case studies and expert guidance, we have gained a clearer understanding of the many issues involved in succession, including financial planning, building team capability, family agreements, shareholder arrangements, board transition, and taxation.”

“One of the programme’s most valuable lessons is that succession planning should always begin with a clear focus on the long-term health and protection of the business. Tax planning is important, but it should support rather than drive the succession process. A strong business that continues to generate income and opportunities for future generations remains the primary objective.”

Their advice to other family-owned seafood businesses is not to wait until retirement is close. The process takes longer than expected, and the issues, particularly succession tax reliefs, are more complex than expected, especially where more than one company sits within the family seafood business. “Starting early gave us time to explore options, have open conversations and develop a plan that protects both the business and the people behind it,” the brothers said. “By investing time in succession planning early, we are confident that the business will remain resilient, innovative and competitive well into the future with a great team at the helm.”

Case study: Blackshell Farm gets a clearer view of its finances.

Blackshell Farm, a second-generation organic mussel business based in Westport, Co Mayo, has gained significant insight into the financial performance of its operations following tailored business and financial planning support from BIM.

The family-run company produces around 900 tonnes of rope-grown mussels annually in Clew Bay, most of it exported in bulk to markets including France, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK. It also manufactures biodegradable cotton mesh for mussel farming and runs engineering and marine services businesses, employing nine people across its activities.

According to Joan Mulloy of Blackshell Farm, the engagement with BIM grew out of wider discussions about the challenges facing Ireland’s mussel sector, particularly low prices and profitability. “We were talking to BIM generally about how we could improve the mussel industry, including the sales price and building a stronger reputation and brand for Irish mussels. But we also wanted to look more closely at our own costs and seeing where we could become leaner and more efficient,” she said.

Blackshell was connected with BIM’s Seafood Business Advisory Programme, with experts working directly with the company to examine its accounts, bookkeeping systems, company structure, sales activities, costs and pricing in detail. The resulting report identified a series of practical actions, including ways to simplify accounting practices and improve the structure of the business, and it uncovered accounting issues that have already saved the company a substantial amount of money.

“It was very practical, very relevant and completely bespoke to our business,” Joan said. “We have had different types of business support over the years, some more useful than others, but this really helped us to look strategically at how we manage the financial side of the company.”

One outcome is the restructuring of Blackshell’s operations, bringing two companies together into one and changing how management accounts are prepared, so the company can see overall performance while also drilling down into individual business streams. Crucially, the work will give Blackshell far clearer visibility of its production costs. “Before, we couldn’t easily pull out the exact cost of producing a tonne of mussels. We will now be able to do that, something which is extremely valuable. We don’t set the market price, but if we know our exact costs, we can make a much better decision about whether it makes sense for us to enter a particular market.”

That information will also support future strategic decisions, including whether Blackshell should expand further into the higher-value Irish fresh mussel market. “It was an amazing opportunity to have experienced people come in and really examine the nuts and bolts of the business,” Joan said. “It has given us much clearer visibility and will allow us to make better-informed decisions in the future.”

Case study: Goatsbridge builds a financial model to run the business.

Goatsbridge Trout Farm, near Thomastown in Co Kilkenny, has been farming rainbow trout since the early 1960s. Founded by Pádraig and Rita Kirwan, it was among Ireland’s pioneering privately owned trout farms and is today run by their son Ger Kirwan and his wife Mags.

From its beginnings as a traditional fish farm, Goatsbridge has grown into an innovative seafood producer, with a range that includes fresh and smoked trout, pâté, fish chowder and its distinctive trout caviar, supplying Irish retail and hospitality customers while also developing overseas markets. That growth has been matched by significant investment, including a €1.68 million expansion supported through BIM Capital Processing schemes, covering a factory extension, upgraded production lines and solar energy, followed more recently by a further €138,000 investment to increase production of premium trout products and improve processing efficiencies.

As a business becomes larger and more complex, understanding precisely where money is being made and where costs are being incurred becomes increasingly important. Through the BIM Seafood Business Advisory Programme, Goatsbridge received specialist financial advisory support, working closely with Mags and the team to build a comprehensive financial model for the business. “This has been a game changer for us,” Mags said.

“The process involved mapping our business in depth, examining costs, sales and overheads and building them into a model which we now use to inform our business decisions. It was absolutely amazing.” Rather than being filed away once complete, the model has become a practical management tool. “It basically runs our business today,” Mags said. “Our new financial controller is using it now, modifying it to our needs, and we’re trying to develop it further.”

The first stage of the support focused on the company’s fish processing and customer-facing operations, and Goatsbridge is now working to extend the same approach across its fish farming activities. “It means we look at the potential financial consequences of a new project, changing costs or other developments and understand how those changes could flow through the wider business. For a company like ours making significant investments and looking towards new markets, the ability to model different scenarios can make an important difference.”

Financial work is part of a wider relationship between Goatsbridge and BIM, with Mags noting the business has drawn on BIM support in several areas over the years, including mentoring and advice around its digitalisation journey. For Mags, bringing in an outside expert provided something that can be difficult for any owner-manager: the chance to stand back from the everyday demands of running the company and examine the business objectively. “It’s a really, really good and very valuable programme,” she said.