Whisky loss leaves bitter taste

The whisky is set to lose its 189-year association with the town under plans to shut the packaging plant in a major re-structuring of Scottish operations that will see 900 job losses – 700 of them in Kilmarnock – in a bid to save about 40 million a year .

The company announced yesterday its historic distillery at Port Dundas, Glasgow, which produced whisky since 1810, would also close.

Scotland is one of Diageo's largest spirit supply centres, currently employing about 4,500 people and producing nearly 50 million cases of Scotch whisky and white spirits.

Last night, Des Browne, Labour MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, said the news was "devastating".

"Every bottle of Johnnie Walker has a label which says that this whisky has been bottled in Kilmarnock since 1820," he said.

"The town of Kilmarnock and the people of Ayrshire have contributed to this business's profits for nearly two centuries. I'm told that these are proposals. The company now needs to work with their staff in Kilmarnock and revise these proposals as they did ten years ago to maintain this presence in and these jobs. That's what I'll be working for from today."

Yesterday, Diageo apologised to staff affected by the announcement, but said the move followed an "exhaustive review".

Bryan Donaghey, managing director of Diageo Scotland, said: "These decisions have been extremely difficult to take. We have only reached them after an exhaustive review of all the possible alternatives.

"I am sorry for the impact this announcement will have on our employees and their families in Kilmarnock and Glasgow and the difficulty this will cause in Kilmarnock, where we are a major employer."

The firm hopes to save an extra 40m a year, principally from the changes in Scotland, on top of 120m a year identified around its global operations and expected cost savings from its Irish review.