Firstly my thoughts are for those staff losing their jobs especially at this time of year as we approach Christmas.

This is a company which I know produces a high quality product both under its own name and for other brands. I have visited the factory and the staff are clearly of the highest calibre with very modern equipment to work with. However, sadly the buildings they work in have been of a poorer quality.

This is a company with a long history and at least it is not closing completely. I appreciate that the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, and others have put long hours and effort into discussions with the Company in recent days. That appears to have limited the number of redundancies and I thank all those involved for their efforts.

I am also grateful that these negotiations have been kept confidential and that the staff have been informed before the situation became public knowledge.

United Biscuits appears to have been a very centralised company and has failed to use ‘Made in Scotland’ to its advantage. I believe they could have added value to their Glasgow products if they had done this, as many other companies in the food sector have done. Perhaps they will consider this in the future.

Ownership is also an issue here. Recently control of UB has moved to Yildiz Holding of Turkey; but control left Scotland long ago. Once again Scottish jobs suffer when ownership is elsewhere. In the longer term we need to look at how ownership of companies can be kept more locally. That is an advantage for local jobs, the local economy, and beyond.

I have contacted the Company with a number of questions and am seeking a meeting with them to hear more about what is happening.

However, the short term concern remains for individual employees and their families. If I can be of any assistance to them, they can contact me 24 hours each day.”