No guarantees at science centre

Published on Saturday 25 May 2002 01:00

AN EMERGENCY meeting between the interim chief executive and employees at the Glasgow Science Centre yesterday failed to provide guarantees on jobs for concerned staff.

Tom Merchant was brought in last week to replace Paul Smith, who was forced to resign amid a deepening financial crisis at the 75 million Pacific Quay complex.

His priorities are to settle the centre’s immediate problems, including faults that have kept its 400ft observation tower closed and a financial deficit that is believed to have reached 1 million. Yesterday he held a meeting with staff to discuss cutting the centre’s overspending, which Amicus, their union, fears could cost up to 30 jobs.

Gordon Casey, a spokesman for Amicus, who was involved in the talks, said: “Nothing has been resolved as yet and I think staff cuts are still a possibility.

“ The company is working on a revised business plan and there will be more consultations with Amicus when the plan becomes available.

“We have suggested that if the company has got to make savings then they should be made evenly across the whole of the organisation.

“We have discussed the developments the organisation is facing and they need to get more people coming to the science centre as that is the best way to ensure that the jobs are there for the staff in the numbers we would like to see.”

He added: “It is difficult to say who is at risk at the moment and we will not know that until we see the plan to show where they think the weaknesses are and where they think the over–manning is.

“We hope that it will identify the weaknesses in the current structure and show how they can be fixed.

“Every organisation has to develop and it is certainly acknowledged from the union’s point of view that we think the science centre can be better and has not been doing as well in the past as it should have been doing. We are glad to see the new management in place because we have faith and confidence that they will at least know what is required.”

Mr Merchant, 54, is an associate with Locum Destination Consulting, a tourism development firm which has been advising the science centre during its recent difficulties.

David Grimmer, spokesman for the science centre, said: “Our position is that this is an ongoing process. We announced a period of structure review a couple of weeks ago and we will not be commenting further until the results of that process are fully completed and the staff are aware of the situation.”

The new plan, which will give a clearer idea of how many posts will be affected, is expected next week.