Industrial equipment manufacturer Simclar has hit back at claims that it had behaved callously towards its staff after cutting 420 jobs and closing two factories in Ayrshire, Scotland.
The founder and chairman of Simclar, Sam Russell, accused critical politicians, including Scotland’s first minister Jack McConnell, of making “wild” and “ill-informed” claims.
Russell said: “Nothing would have given me greater satisfaction than to have retained these Ayrshire jobs.”
“When you hear senior Scottish politicians – no doubt with an eye on impending elections – making the wild claims they have over the past two days, you wonder whether they really understand the scale of the global challenge facing the manufacturing sector.”
McConnell said earlier this week that Simclar had acted “improperly” by not informing its workforce of its impending closure and padlocking its gates.
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“I think that is very unfortunate,” McConnell said.
Unions also accused Simclar of having “Victorian working practices”.
