Diageo: no to public funds to help keep jobs

Diageo boss Paul Walsh has said he is not interested in receiving public funds to help keep its bottling plant in Kilmarnock open.

Speaking at its results, Walsh said that he would not put the other 4,000 jobs in Scotland at risk to keep either the Kilmarnock plant or the grain distillery in Port Dundas open. The closures will result in the loss of around 900 jobs.

Today, he received a plan from trade unions and politicians to keep the plant open but said he had not yet had time to review it. He feared that it would feature the use of public funds to help keep them open.

He stressed the company had "agonised" over the decision for 12 months and that he was "frustrated" the closures had overshadowed its previous investment in Scotland and the creation of 400 new jobs as a result of the restructure.

"I'm not after Government money," he said as the company unveiled operating profits of £2.6bn. "We have to be very careful in accommodating the needs of politicians that we don't compromise our competitive edge because that would put the other 4,000 jobs in Scotland in jeopardy.

"The reality is public funds should be spent on something else sustainable in Kilmarnock rather than fund an inefficiency in the existing system. I am a great believer in the free economy."

Meanwhile, Diageo workers are to turn up at tomorrow's Johnnie Walker Classic golf tournament at Gleneagles to ask leading golfers to back their campaign.

Jassy Smith, a Diageo worker and Unite shop steward said: "We are here to tell golf lovers that the home of golf, Scotland, and Scottish whisky are being betrayed by Diageo's plans to cut 900 jobs across the country and ditch its home in Kilmarnock.

"It does not have to be this way because there are other ways forward, so we are appealing to golf lovers and whisky fans everywhere to help us make Diageo see sense."

Workers also protested outside Diageo's offices in central London this morning.