Closure fears for disabled staff

Workers employed at Glencraft in Aberdeen say they will fight

Aberdeen City Council has been branded "cruel and inept" amid fears that a factory which employs disabled workers will have to close.

Management at Glencraft said the withdrawal of funding means the factory - which employs dozens of people - could shut as early as April.

Glencraft general manager Anthony Pratt told BBC Scotland it was "absolutely appalling" news.

Aberdeen City Council confirmed annual funding was being halted.

Most of the workers at Glencraft, which is involved in the furniture trade, are blind or disabled.

'Badly handled'

Mr Pratt said: "I have never seen anything so badly handled, the whole process has been completely inept.

"It's a very, very cruel thing to have done.

"The present subsidy of around £650,000 is being cut entirely."

Andy Laing, who is partially sighted and has worked at Glencraft for 25 years, had received a long service award on Wednesday.

He said: "I am devastated at what's going to happen for myself and another 50-odd workers. We are going to fight."

Aberdeen South MP Anne Begg said: "I am absolutely horrified to hear that as part of the Aberdeen City Council programme of cuts there are plans to close the Glencraft factory.

"This will leave hard-working disabled people out of a job."

'High-risk'

Councillor Kevin Stewart said: "Glencraft has received funding from Aberdeen City Council for many years.

"The subsidy from the council in this financial year is £650,000 per annum and has been maintained at that level for about three years, having dropped from the previous £1m.

"Glencraft has recently been engaged in a significant re-engineering exercise to try to put the business on a firmer footing. The only way in which Glencraft could see the business becoming more sustainable in the long term was to cut costs, partly by moving to new, smaller premises."

He explained: "The success of Glencraft's business plan still rested in large measure on the continued availability of significant council subsidy for the next 10 or more years.

"Aberdeen City Council, however, has judged that moving to smaller premises in order to render Glencraft more financially stable and sustainable is a very high-risk strategy.

"A decision has therefore been taken to withdraw the £650,000 core funding and instead offer a one-off £300,000 to the business - and consider what can be done to support the staff group who would not manage to sustain mainstream employment."

He said since the budgetary decision was made by the council on 14 February, intensive work had been undertaken by the council to secure the best possible deal for Glencraft in relation to its current lease arrangements.