Jobs threat to Bute as First Milk decide to shut creamery

NFU Scotland last night expressed its disappointment over First Milk's decision to stop production at its Rothesay creamery on the Isle of Bute, a move that will potentially affect up to 19 people working at the site.

Union president Jim McLaren conceded that securing fair returns from the cheese market in recent times had been difficult and that First Milk had to remain competitive but he bemoaned the loss of a long-established creamery with a high-value, branded product.

Most of his ire focused on the buyers who "continually screw down the prices for such a quality product while taking the opportunity to extend their own margins".

He added: "They need to wake up to the impact that such policies can wreak on more remote milk fields such as the one on Bute."

In its statement, First Milk said that because farmers had left the dairy industry, the volume of milk produced on the island has declined by more than 25 per cent over the past two years, leading to the creamery now being severely under-utilised.

First Milk, which has 550 members in Scotland, also operates creameries near the Mull of Kintyre at Campbeltown and on the Isle of Arran, creating award-winning cheeses made with 100 per cent guaranteed Scottish milk.

The firm confirmed that if the proposals to stop production go ahead, they would transport the milk supplied by its farmers on the Isle of Bute to the Scottish mainland.

Kate Allum, executive director for cheese at First Milk, said: "The creamery is losing money which impacts the returns we can pass back to our farmer members.

"Despite our sales team working hard to secure a profitable customer base for cheese produced at the site, the creamery is severely under-utilised. This means that the cost of making cheese on Bute is much more expensive in comparison with many other creameries in the UK.

"Having assessed all our options, we believe that stopping production at the creamery is the best route to protect the returns to our farmer members."

First Milk will now enter into a formal consultation process with employees at the Rothesay creamery to discuss these proposals and the potential consequences for them and their roles.

John Scott MSP said it was a bad day for Bute with the loss of 19 jobs in this "fragile island community" being a massive blow to their economy.

"Losing this number of jobs in an area where jobs are so scarce make this a difficult pill to swallow and my particular concerns are for the individuals involved and their families," he said.

• Growers with last year's oilseed rape crop still in store have, this week, been advised to take advantage of the recent increase in price being offered.

Owen Cligg, the trading manager for United Oilseeds says: "We have seen significant firming in oilseed rape prices over the past couple of months. Now is therefore a good time for many growers to think about forward selling their crops."

Factors that might cause the market to slump later in the year were "an oversupply of old crop oilseed rape within the UK" and that "the supply and demand of oilseed rape within the EU has been balanced by imports of up to 500,000 tonnes of Australian rapeseed."