Grieg Seafood Scotland:
Media Training & Strategic Communications Planning

The Campaign Brief

As the largest Scottish salmon farmer operating in Shetland, Grieg Seafood Shetland was a major player in an industry facing increasing public, political and regulatory scrutiny.

In a sector where operational incidents can quickly become headline news, protecting reputation requires more than a reactive approach. It demands clear processes, confident spokespeople and the ability to communicate effectively when the pressure is on.

Cunningly Good Communications was appointed to work with Grieg Seafood’s senior management team to strengthen its communications preparedness, identify potential reputational risks and develop a robust strategic communications plan.

Our challenge was to equip the business with the skills, procedures and messaging needed to respond confidently to a range of scenarios, safeguard its reputation and ensure a consistent, considered approach to communications across its UK operations.

Cunningly Good Group’s Approach

We knew that when it comes to reputation management, preparation is everything. Our approach combined strategic counsel, senior-level media training and practical crisis communications planning to ensure Grieg Seafood was ready for whatever challenges might arise.

We worked closely with the senior management team to identify potential issues, assess reputational risks and develop a comprehensive risk register. This informed a tailored, high-level media training programme designed to give senior leaders the confidence and skills to handle challenging questions, communicate key messages and respond effectively under pressure.

We also developed a comprehensive communications procedure, subsequently rolled out across all Grieg Seafood UK sites, establishing a consistent approach to managing incidents and media enquiries. Alongside this, we created a bank of pre-drafted statements, enabling the business to respond quickly, accurately and appropriately to emerging situations.

Our strategic support extended to some of the industry’s most sensitive issues, including a Scottish Parliament inquiry into the Scottish salmon industry and an EU investigation into potential anti-competitive behaviour among Norwegian-owned salmon producers operating in the UK.

Throughout, we worked closely with Grieg Seafood’s corporate communications team in Norway, providing specialist advice on UK media expectations, strategic messaging and English-language editing to ensure communications were clear, credible and appropriate for their intended audiences.

We also supported the business with internal communications, advertising design and ongoing strategic advice, providing an integrated communications service that extended well beyond crisis preparedness.

The Cunningly Good Results

Our work gave Grieg Seafood a stronger, more structured approach to managing its communications, equipping the business with the tools, training and strategic support needed to navigate a complex and highly scrutinised operating environment. Key outcomes included:

A media-ready senior management team, equipped with the skills and confidence to handle challenging interviews and communicate effectively in high-pressure situations.

A comprehensive risk register, identifying potential reputational threats and providing a framework for proactive communications planning.

A consistent UK-wide communications procedure, rolled out across all Grieg Seafood UK sites to support coordinated incident management and messaging.

A bank of pre-approved response statements, reducing the need to develop communications from scratch when operational incidents occurred.

Strategic communications support during significant industry scrutiny, including Scottish Parliamentary and EU investigations.

Closer alignment between UK and Norwegian communications teams, ensuring messaging reflected both corporate priorities and the requirements of the UK media landscape.

Crucially, the work moved Grieg Seafood from reactive communications towards a more proactive, prepared and coordinated approach to reputation management.