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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Ryan Thom

Ayrshire factory bottling WKD to close after 28 years in business

An Ayrshire factory which bottles party drink WKD is set to close.

Caledonian Bottlers in Cumnock will stop production at the end of the year.

The site in Cumnock Business Park has been a mainstay in the East Ayrshire town for 28 years, with tens of staff set to lose their jobs.

Company bosses at SHS Group confirmed their decision this week after telling devastated staff they would be made redundant.

The firm took the decision to close the factory due to rising costs with a 'significant level of investment' required to continue to production.

Along with WKD, the firm is also responsible for the production of Merrydown Cider, Shloer and Bottlegreen.

Operations are now set to be relocated to a third-party provider instead.

A spokesperson for SHS Drinks said: “Earlier this year a review of infrastructure highlighted the significant level of investment required to keep the Caledonian Bottlers site fully operational. Regrettably, the cost was prohibitive.

"An organisational change consultation was subsequently undertaken to explore options to deliver long-term supply chain security.

"The consultation process has ended and the extremely difficult decision has been made to relocate operations to a third-party provider. As a result, production at the Caledonian Bottlers site will finish at the end of the year. "

The firm paid tribute to staff and have offered to provide support as they go through the redundancy process.

A spokesperson added: "The team at Caledonian Bottlers was informed of the consultation outcome on Friday, October 14. The commitment and experience of all the staff at Caledonian Bottlers has been evident throughout the last 28 years.

"We are incredibly proud of the team – for their continued commitment to serving our customers and the resilience they have shown during this unprecedented time.

"We recognise that this is a very difficult time for all Caledonian Bottlers employees and we are providing a range of support measures in terms of training, guidance and advice during the associated redundancy process.”

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