Whisky: MSPs questioned the need for expensive sports sponsorship at a time when jobs were being axed. Pic: © STV
The boss of whisky firm Whyte and Mackay has admitted job losses would be unlikely if the Scottish Government introduced a 40p per unit minimum price for alcohol.
John Beard had been recalled to appear before Holyrood's Health Committee for a second week in a row in a bid to clarify his previous claims about the controversial pricing proposals. Mr Beard told MSPs last week that minimum pricing could decimate his firm's trade in own-brand whisky and force it to axe 300 of its 480 staff.
However, reappearing before MSPs on Wednesday, he said his prediction that Whyte and MacKay's Fife bottling plant would close was based on a potential UK-wide pricing scheme of 50p per unit.
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Mr Beard said that if MSPs had asked him a direct question about whether job losses related to Scotland or the UK, he would have given a straight answer. And he insisted that immediately after last week's committee, he told a journalist 300 jobs could be lost across the UK - not just Scotland.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Beard said: "Candidly, I felt the questioning last week was, on occasions, weak. When I was asked subsequent to this committee, I was asked a very straight question as to was this related to the UK and I answered that in the affirmative. If there's any misunderstanding in my evidence last week then I would be the first to apologise, but I do not apologise for the content of what I was telling you.
"I was asked a very straight question subsequent to this committee that I answered, I was not questioned by yourself... that very same question and you would have got the consistent answer that all political parties have had for the last six to nine months."
Mr Beard told MSPs today that he predicted 83 immediate job losses for the firm across Scotland if a 50p minimum price per unit of alcohol was introduced. However, he said he did not envision job losses if a 40p minimum price was set.
He said: "If a minimum price of 40 pence was introduced, it would have a negligible effect in the short-term with regards to companies that primarily focus on whisky."
Mr Beard also joined Diageo boss Bryan Donaghey to give evidence at Holyrood's Economy Committee. Both men faced a grilling over their sponsorship of Formula 1 at a time when jobs were being lost. Diageo took the decision to axe 900 jobs last year while Whyte and MacKay axed 71 jobs following restructuring.
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Nationalist MSP Stewart McMillan asked: "In terms of the restructuring, how do the both of you justify to your employees that are about to lose their positions signing deals for advertising with Formula 1 teams?"
Johnnie Walker sponsors Lewis Hamilton's McLaren team while Whyte and MacKay sponsor the Force India team.
Mr Donaghey, Diageo's Scottish managing director, insisted "advertising and promotion" were key to sales. He said: "Formula 1 has a great global audience. Like all things, it might work for a while, then we look at other things."
Mr Beard told MSPs that Whyte and MacKay's market was "quite dependent" on the UK, adding: "We have to become more international and one vehicle for this is through the likes of Formula 1."
Mr McMillan said he accepted that firms had an obligation to promote their products. However, he added: "There could be a perception that it's the people in Scotland, the workforce in Scotland, which is going to suffer because of other external factors, as well as additional money going to promote the product and particularly the Indian market - ie the promotion in Formula 1."
Mr Donaghey said he accepted the concerns of the 900 people facing the axe.
He said: "Nothing I say about the longevity of the business matters to them. But we have to look to the long term. That isn't a remedy for the people who are losing their jobs, but this is about the long-term sustainability of 4,000 jobs in Scotland and the supply base that comes with it."
Diageo is cutting 700 jobs in Kilmarnock and around 200 in Glasgow, but will create around 400 new positions in Fife. Mr Donaghey confirmed there would be no compulsory redundancies at Diageo before October. About 300 of the staff affected have so far said they don't want to be "redeployed" to other sites and 300 staff across the company have applied for voluntary redundancy.
