Hame Fae Hame has entered a partnership with salmon producer, Scottish Sea Farms, which will see the Scalloway-based provider offer subsidised childcare for their employees in Shetland.
When it first approached Hame Fae Hame in October 2021, Scottish Sea Farms was already a strongly family-oriented business with pro-family policies, including competitive maternity and paternity packages for new parents. As part of its wider goal to provide the optimum conditions to foster a diverse and inclusive workforce, Scottish Sea Farms sought to find a way to help parents with the cost of pre-school places and after-school care.
Families in Scotland are entitled to 21 hours of free childcare provision per week from the Scottish government, but Scottish Sea Farms sought to make this even more affordable. It was a move which its leadership team hoped would help entice more parents into its workforce.
In Hame Fae Hame, the seafood producer found the ideal partner in Shetland to get the scheme started. Headed by Kaye Sandison [pictured, left], whose husband works as a consultant in the seafood industry, Hame Fae Hame caters for children between the ages of one and 12.
Scottish Sea Farms’ head of human resources, Tracy Bryant-Shaw, believed from the beginning that the provider would be a perfect fit for their company ethos, and indeed the initial exchanges between both parties paved the way for what would prove to be a successful pilot scheme in Shetland.
Bryant-Shaw said: “As a rural employer, and with a lot of young staff, we are aware of how hard it is to get child-care.
“We decided to trial this in Shetland as we have found the ideal joint venture partner there in Hame Fae Hame, which is located near our processing factory in Scalloway and is run by Kaye Sandison, whose husband David Sandison is a consultant in the seafood sector.”
After healthy demand for discounted nursery places in Shetland was seen over the autumn months, the success of the pilot scheme saw Scottish Sea Farms confirm in May 2022 that it would look to roll out the initiative to further regions.
This, Scottish Sea Farms believes, will come as a significant boost to families during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, with talks underway with providers based in Oban, Lerwick and Orkney.
Bryant-Shaw said: “The overarching aim is to roll-out discounted places across the estate via similar partnerships to the one in Scalloway.
“We’ve had a great response and I don’t want to leave it there; it makes a massive difference to the families using it.
“I would also like to hear from parents in remote areas, where there may be no nursery provision, to see if we can set up pre-school and after-school support. And anyone who is currently using a nursery, or a childminder can also access the subsidy.”
Hame Fae Hame’s Kaye Sandison added: “After the success we’ve had helping rollout the scheme in Shetland, it’s good to see that its positive impact will be spread elsewhere. We are proud to have helped make the pilot effective here.
“It will also be interesting to see if any other employers start to try or are already trialling schemes like this to help retain their staff after the pandemic by helping them through the cost-of-living squeeze.”
