Gordon Banks meets representatives of Carlsberg Tetley

3 March 2008

Local MP Gordon Banks met with Andrew Caswell, Strategic Planning Director for Carlsberg Tetley on Thursday of last week in the House of Commons.

The meeting follows last month’s announcement by the firm to close it’s distribution site in Alloa.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Banks said – “Mr Caswell confirmed to me that the company had taken onboard several viewpoints in it’s consultation and therefore has come to an agreement with another distributor in Scotland to take over some of the work with the rest being kept in Alloa.”

“The company should be congratulated for listening to the concerns of the local workforce and public opinion. Too often consultations are only a PR stunt and therefore lead to the same outcome as was originally proposed. I am glad this has not happened here.”

“Although this new deal has not saved all the jobs on site, I did raise with Mr Caswell the interest being shown by a local business in the area. He seemed very receptive to the idea and did assure me that Carlsberg would continue to use the site should a new owner be established. The chances of Carlsberg staying on site in some capacity would be greatly increased if the site was bought by a local business – therefore a deal would be beneficial to both parties.”

“I expect discussions will be taking place very soon and I am keeping my fingers crossed that a deal can be done that keeps jobs on the site and brings a further boost to the Clackmannanshire economy.