Nicola Sturgeon addressed concerns over the closure of an Uddingston seafood processing site where hundreds of jobs have been lost.
It was announced earlier this week that the Dawnfresh Uddingston site had been suffering serious financial issues and was now being wrapped up by administrators.
Some 200 jobs were lost, with 77 being kept on to assist administrators with the winding-up process.
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Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, Labour MSP Monica Lennon said that workers “felt betrayed after years of broken promises” and that, amid fears of not being paid owed wages and the escalating cost of living crisis, “no one should be feeling shortchanged”.
Lennon went on to ask the First Minister what was being done by the Scottish Government to assist those who had been made unemployed.
Sturgeon said that Scottish Enterprise had spoken with administrators on Wednesday to better understand “all potential options for the business going forward and explore all possibilities to rescue jobs.”
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Sturgeon was then asked by Stephanie Callaghan MSP, whose constituents have been affected by the site’s closure, if the Scottish Government’s previous efforts to enable a takeover deal for the site would be revitalised.
Sturgeon reiterated her commitment to help the constituents and said: “Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government will explore and give support to all possible options that will allow the business to continue in some form and might allow jobs to be saved.”
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Speaking about the site’s closure, Callum Carmichael, partner at administrators FRP Advisory, said the business “has been unable to overcome very serious financial problems at the Uddingston facility”.
Dawnfresh operates seven fish farms across Scotland and Northern Ireland with two Scottish processing plants, including the Uddingston site and one in Arbroath.
However, as it stands, no jobs at the Arbroath facility will be affected.
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