Joseph Marr, based in Hull, opened his own fish smokehouse curing fresh locally caught fish by renting two fish curers.

Joseph purchased his first steam trawler.

Joseph Marr passes away. The name was changed to J Marr & Son with Joseph’s Son James now in control.

The company moves to Fleetwood and now have 32 steam trawlers with 11 more vessels on order.

The Marr family trawlers are called into active service during WWI.

Tragically, James Marr passes away.

Alan Marr returned from war duty and took over the running of the company.

Alan Marr passes away and Alan’s twin brothers, Leslie and Geoffrey, took over the running of the company.

J Marr & Son moves operations back to Hull after an absence of 36 years. Trawlers are still launched from Fleetwood.

World War II erupts across Europe and two of the Marrs’ trawlers were sunk by German gunfire.

The entire fleet of Marr boats have either been destroyed or have been called into active war service.

The company headquarters are destroyed by a landmine along with a portion of the surrounding docks.

By the end of the war, just six Marr trawlers remained in operation. The rest having been damaged or sunk during the conflict.

The Marr empire continued to grow with the acquisition of Andrew Johnson Knudtzon Ltd. A new 6,000 ton capacity cold storage warehouse opened as part of the acquisition.

British trawlers are escorted by the Navy boats due to the first “Cod War” causing tensions in the waters when Iceland extended it’s fishing radius to 12 miles. The British trawlers were under constant harassment by Icelandic gunboats.

Andrew Marr helps to pioneer the ability to freeze fish at sea – a concept never achieved before.

The trawler, The Junella was launched. She could either freeze her entire catch or store fish chilled in the more traditional way. The Junella cost £350,000 and had a capacity of 300 tonnes.

Leslie Marr passes away.

Geoffrey Marr passes away.

A new and younger team start to emerge at the company and order 21 new fishing trawlers, demonstrating a faith in the industry and the company going forward.

New laws were introduced and 200 mile fishing limits came into force, meaning many fishermen were unable to fish in the rich and populated Icelandic waters. Many vessel owners sold up and quit the industry during this time.

Alan and Andrew Marr converted some of their vessels to be able to catch Mackerel and Herring off the UK shore.

A new subsiduary, J Marr (Seafoods) was created as an export business to deliver fish to West Africa, Russia and the Far East.

Alan and Andrew Marr decided to restructure the company due to family succession and a de-merger took place. The main business now became Andrew Marr International.

Marrfish was created with the view of delivering our fresh quality fish to the hospitality and restaurant trade.

Marrfish opens Marrfish Grimsby, our purpose built filleting complex in the North of England.