{"id":97362,"date":"2026-08-04T18:31:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T18:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/97362\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T18:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T18:31:12","slug":"moray-msp-laura-mitchell-calls-for-urgent-discussions-with-gmb-and-diageo-amid-fears-for-moray-distillery-jobs-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/97362\/","title":{"rendered":"Moray MSP Laura Mitchell calls for urgent discussions with GMB and Diageo amid fears for Moray distillery jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Moray MSP Laura Mitchell has called for urgent discussions with both Diageo and union representatives following fears that dozens of jobs could be lost<\/a> at the company’s Moray distilleries.<\/p>\n

The MSP said the prospect of redundancies at Speyside sites was “deeply concerning” and acknowledged the uncertainty facing workers as the drinks giant continues consultation over proposed job cuts.<\/p>\n

\"Laura\"LauraLaura Mitchell has requested an urgent meeting with both union representatives as well as Diageo.<\/p>\n

“It’s no secret that the whisky industry has faced some tough economic headwinds in recent months, driven largely by global events,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

“That doesn’t make any potential job losses any less concerning, and as Moray’s MSP I, of course, don’t want to see redundancies in Speyside.<\/p>\n

“This will be an anxious time for the workers affected, and the wider teams at the sites involved.<\/p>\n

“I’m in touch with both Diageo and the GMB and hope to meet with both urgently to discuss the impact on staff and the wider Moray economy.”<\/p>\n

The comments come after GMB Scotland accused Diageo of failing to meaningfully engage with workers during consultation over a restructuring programme that could result in 38 job losses across its Highland and Islands operations.<\/p>\n

\"Cardhu\"CardhuCardhu Distillery. Picture: Daniel Forsyth<\/p>\n

A total of 172 employees have been placed at risk of redundancy, including workers at Cardhu, Cragganmore and Dufftown distilleries in Moray.<\/p>\n

The union claims it repeatedly put forward alternatives to compulsory redundancies, including voluntary redundancy schemes and job-sharing arrangements, but says each proposal was rejected.<\/p>\n

GMB Scotland organiser Lesley-Anne Macaskill described the consultation process as a “box-ticking exercise”, arguing company representatives had no authority to alter the plans and accusing Diageo of ignoring workers’ concerns.<\/p>\n

The union has now formally rejected the consultation outcome and is urging politicians across the Highlands and Islands to intervene, warning the impact would extend beyond the distillery workforce to rural communities and the wider local economy.<\/p>\n

Diageo has insisted no final decisions have been made.<\/p>\n

A company spokesperson previously said: “In February, at our Interim Results, we shared our intention to redesign our operating framework, to drive sustainable returns for shareholders by delivering a more competitive Diageo.<\/p>\n

“In the UK, we are still in consultation on this and no decisions have been made.<\/p>\n

“We will always prioritise informing our colleagues of any organisational changes first and have committed to update shareholders on our progress at a Capital Markets Day on 6 August.”<\/p>\n

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here<\/a> to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Moray MSP Laura Mitchell has called for urgent discussions with both Diageo and union representatives following fears that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97363,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[21250],"tags":[633,4110,346,5860],"class_list":["post-97362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-diageo","tag-business","tag-diageo","tag-latest-news","tag-update-me"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117038670443042387","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}