SCOTTISH Secretary David Mundell and his MSP son Oliver have urged the Scottish Government to buy the Pinneys seafood factory in Annan in a bid to save it from closure.
Owners’ Young’s Seafood has announced it is closing the Annan factory, with the loss of 450 permanent jobs and a large number of agency posts.
Now David Mundell, the MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale and his son, the Dumfriesshire constituency MSP Oliver Mundell, have jointly issued the call, urging swift action to save the Pinneys factory – the largest employer in Annan.
Both politicians warned yesterday that with the withdrawal of an expression of interest in the Stapleton Road site by cooked
meat producers Brown Brothers, urgent steps needed to be taken to safeguard the site.
David Mundell said: “The last thing Annan needs after losing so many jobs is to have a large boarded up factory at the entrance to the town being left to slowly deteriorate.
“We are writing to the Scottish Government calling on them to take on the ownership, management and marketing of the Pinneys site after Young’s leave.
“As their contribution to the community, we are asking Young’s to release the site at a knock down price. The new South of Scotland Enterprise Agency or Scottish Enterprise should then promote or redevelop the factory.”
He added: “A proactive approach is needed if we are going to get jobs, in whatever form, back on the site.”
Oliver Mundell pointed to a previous intervention to save a business, saying: “The speed and scale of this number of redundancies in a relatively small town like Annan is devastating, both to those involved and the wider economy.
“The Scottish Government has taken on sites in such situations before. In the case of loss-making Prestwick Airport they bought the business as well as facilitating financial support to other companies.”
The Scottish Government said last night that it was looking at “every possibility” for the future of the site.
A spokesperson said: “We have been working to identify and support any potential new investor to the site and last week announced £250,000 to help with the delivery of the Annan Action Plan and regenerate the local area following the closure of Pinneys. Our experienced multi-agency Partnership for Action on Continuing Employment (PACE) helped support a dedicated jobs fair in the town last week and we remain absolutely committed to exploring all possible options for the site and are working hard to try and achieve a positive outcome in this regard.”
There was no reply from Young Seafoods when The National tried to contact them last night.
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