The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Chicken factory firm may have to pay back £500k of public cash
Claims that terms of grant scheme have been ‘violated’ by Coupar Angus food group
The operators of a Perthshire chicken factory are under pressure to repay more than £500,000 of taxpayers’ cash.
The 2 Sisters Food Group received a Scottish Enterprise subsidy to support its factory at Cambuslang, near Glasgow.
The plant closed its doors earlier this summer with the loss of 450 jobs.
However, it has emerged some of the £543,000 grant depended on production continuing until 2020.
Scottish Enterprise said it is now in talks to claw back the money.
Earlier this year, 2 Sisters was awarded a share of £3.59 million from the Scottish Government’s Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation scheme to expand its Coupar Angus base, creating 250 jobs.
The details in the fine print of the Cambuslang agreement were highlighted by a Coupar Angus resident following a Freedom of Information request.
The resident had asked the Scottish Government: “If the grant (for the Coupar Angus site) was given under similar conditions to the Cambuslang plant, in which case one might ask if promises from 2 Sisters are worth anything.”
Labour MP Ged Killen, who represents Rutherglen and Hamilton West and who campaigned to save the Cambuslang operation, claimed that 2 Sisters had “violated” the terms of the Scottish Enterprise agreement.
He said: “I am personally shocked and feel a sense of betrayal that no Scottish Government agencies or ministers raised the conditional elements of grants during the consultation over the closure of the Cambuslang site.
“Such knowledge may have helped achieve a better outcome for those workers who have lost their jobs.”
Mr Killen added: “Former employees at Cambuslang and those working for 2 Sisters in Coupar Angus deserve to know why it took a Freedom of Information request for this information to come to light and what protections are in place to prevent this from happening again in the future.”
A 2 Sisters spokeswoman said: “When we proposed to close the site there were many complex factors to consider, including Scottish Enterprise funding.
“We are currently discussing our grant terms with them to reach a satisfactory outcome for all parties.”
A spokesman for Scottish Enterprise added: “The company did not meet its contractual obligation to retain project assets until the end of the period of conditions. We are in discussions with the company regarding the implications.”
I am personally shocked and feel a sense of betrayal. GED KILLEN