HISTORY

The old fishcuring firm of J & M Shearer originally started trading in 1924, installed its first eight ton ice plant at Lerwick in 1945, increasing production further with a second 16 tons block ice plant in 1948.  The next significant change came in 1961, when Shetland's first flake ice plant was built.  This was followed by further flake ice units being installed in the 1970s when production was at its peak, with 48 tons per 24 hours and storage for 90 tons.

LHD Limited bought J & M Shearer in 1985 and changed the name to J & M Shearer (Ice Supplies) Ltd.  They embarked on a period of expansion with the installation of the more efficient and better cooling Tube Ice.  The first ice factory was built in Scalloway in 1986, producing 25 tons of tube ice per day with a storage capacity of 50 tons in cooled silos.  This was then developed further with a new tube ice factory built in Lerwick in 1991 to replace the old flake ice units.  This new factory could produce 50 tons in 24 hours with a storage capacity of 75 tons.

An additional 25 tons tube ice unit was installed in Scalloway to accommodate the increased salmon farming industry and the new large fishing vessels working west of Shetland.  This final improvement to the ice facilities in Shetland brought the total capacity of all the ice plants managed by J &M Shearer (Ice Supplies) Ltd to a production capacity of 100 tons per 24 hours and with a storage capacity of 175 tons in chilled silos.

The company became part of LHD Marine Supplies Ltd on 1 April 2004.

All of the plants operate a 24 hour, seven days a week service, with ice available direct from the deep water quays in Lerwick and Scalloway.  Special crushers have been installed in each plant to enable the ice to be produced in smaller sizes if required by fishing boats, processors or salmon farms.

The ice requirements for the fishing industry in Shetland have come a long way from the early days when ice was shipped into the isles from Aberdeen and Norway and augmented by supplies from the frozen lochs during periods of wintry weather!