New masterplan in bid to prove Johnnie Walker jobs viable

Published on Tuesday 25 August 2009 22:22

JOHN Swinney was last night handed another business model aimed at saving the hundreds of whisky jobs threatened by Diageo's plans to axe its Johnnie Walker bottling plant in Kilmarnock.

East Ayrshire Council presented the finance secretary with a business case that it believes could safeguard a large number of the 700 jobs that will be lost if the Ayrshire town's 189-year association with the famous drink is ended.

Last month, Diageo announced that it intended to close the bottling plant and its Port Dundas distillery in Glasgow.

Mr Swinney said: "We had a constructive meeting of the taskforce which brings together the trade unions, local authorities, Scottish Enterprise and local politicians with the government with the objective of protecting employment following Diageo's announcement.

"We have formulated a proposal to put to Diageo which will focus on continuing production activity at Port Dundas in Glasgow and the development of a new bottling plant in Kilmarnock on a site.

"We are ready to put the plan to Diageo and will do that swiftly. We look forward to discussions with the company on the details of our proposals. They have pledged to engage with us on our proposals and that is exactly what we expect them to do.

"The government is doing everything in its power to try to protect employment in Scotland. We look to Diageo to engage with us positively in taking forward these proposals and securing a positive benefit for the economies of Glasgow, Kilmarnock and Scotland."

Des Browne, Labour MP for Kilmarnock said: "Kilmarnock has now given the Scottish Government a proposal which can keep Johnnie Walker in Ayrshire and support hundreds of sustainable jobs.

"The challenge now shifts to the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise to bring Diageo to the table and negotiate a positive outcome."

The East Ayrshire plan was the latest stage of a multi-agency cross-party campaign to save the jobs. The plan addresses the findings of a separate 75,000 independent report by consultants BDO Stoy Hayward, which was commissioned by the government development agency Scottish Enterprise.

The BDO Stoy Hayward report has not been made public on the grounds that it contains commercially sensitive information. However, it is understood to have concluded that the rationale behind the drinks conglomerate's plans appeared to be "sensible".