Johnny's leavingDavid Farrer, of Freedom and Whisky, reports the closure of Johnnie Walker. I have to admit to being stunned and dismayed. The details:
Last Wednesday the Striding Man lost his confident swagger. Diageo, the world's biggest drinks manufacturer, announced it was closing the plant with the loss of 700 jobs.
Quite rightly, David says:
But there are deeper issues.For as long as I can remember Scotland has suffered from the departure or downsizing of well-known companies. Up here, we all know the importance of having locally-based employers. If Johnnie Walker had still been locally-owned would it have left Kilmarnock?
Probably not.
But all those folk who are moaning about profit being put before people are missing the point. Profit is about people. Without profit there won't be any jobs, something hundreds of thousands of "public" sector workers will shortly find out.
People, we are in deep s---. Apart from the issues just mentioned, there is the long, slow demise in Britain of all it once stood for. Icons cannot be allowed to disappear like this and it's not a quick fix I'm referring to but a whole infrastructure change.
We are in deep s---.
Diageo is shedding jobs overall, but interestingly it is moving some of the Kilmarnock posts to Fife, where the bottling will now be done.
ReplyDeleteNow, who do we know who has a consituency in Fife?
Ah, is that what it is?
ReplyDeleteOne of our problems is the stupid, unthinking moving of jobs to London. The lottery is introduced. Where will jobs be lost? Liverpool, home of the football pools. So where did they put the lottery jobs - effing London. I tell ye, we must move the capital to Berwick-on-Tweed. Pronto.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed this centralization with the jobs I've been going for. It's really a pain in the butt that things are transferred to London, a sort of giant mother pig down there [excuse me, Londonistanners].
ReplyDeleteJames, never mind pigs (who are actually intelligent and highly amusing animals of great charm), the correct term for that place down there is "The Great Wen".
ReplyDelete(It means "pluke", more or less)
I agree with the trying to centralise jobs down south.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to making a profit, the most important thing is what you do with the profit...