Jobs lost as soft drinks depot set to close doors
Poor access was given as the reason for the closure of a soft drinks depot in Stirling, the Observer of autumn 1979 reported.
Hendry’s in Forth Street, Riverside, delivered beverages as far afield as Mallaig and Fort William.
Those journeys were now to be made from other depots such as Dunfermline and Edinburgh and the result was six employees working from Stirling were made redundant.
Edward King, Alec Mason, Callum Cunningham, John McKenna, David King and depot manager John Dillon were given six weeks’ notice of the closure.
Mr Dillon (62) had been with the company for 36 years and both his uncle and great-uncle had also worked there.
He said: “The reason the management gave us for the closure was the position of the depot.
“They said that it had very bad access for the new 40-tonne lorries that they had just started to use.
“They also pointed out that the buildings were badly in need of repair.”
Mr Dillon also explained the Stirling staff were told by management they could work in the Clydebank depot, however at that time there were no vacancies and it would require moving to Glasgow.
A company spokesperson had confirmed to the Observer the reasons for closure, noting that Stirling would receive its soft drink supplies from either Glasgow or Dunfermline.
Unable to say how long the firm had been in operation, they did note that Hendry’s had manfuctured its soft drinks on the premises “many years ago”.
The spokesperson added that the firm had been taken over by the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society, which in turn joined with the CWS in England in 1973.
The future of the building was said to be in the hands of the CWS Estates Department.