McVitie's owner revealed as source of £1m donation to Glasgow City Council after shuttering biscuit factory

McVitie’s owner Pladis has been revealed as the source of a £1m donation to Glasgow City Council.

The company closed down their Tollcross biscuit factory site in 2022, a decision which saw workers protesting outside the Scottish Parliament.

Following the announcement of the factory closure, the firm drew criticism after it emerged it had received almost £900,000 in publicly-funded grants from Scottish Enterprise.

Between 2015 and 2018, £889,022 was provided to support staff training and development projects.

STV News understands that all of these projects were completed before the announcement to shutter the plant was made.

The Glasgow plant first opened in 1925 as part of the Macfarlane and Lang’s Victoria Biscuit Works, with popular products such as Hobnobs and Rich Teas made at the site.

Almost 500 people worked at the McVitie’s factory, which had been an important employer in the local community for almost 100 years.

The decision to close the factory in 2022 was taken by Pladis in order to address “excess capacity” and protect the “long-term sustainability” of the business.

Last week, members of the public were barred from knowing the detail about a mystery £1m donation to Glasgow City Council.

Councillors made the decision block the press and public from hearing details about the proposed donation from an unknown organisation after it was advised by officials.

Glasgow & West

Public barred from knowing details about mystery private cash donation to council

Officials want to keep the details of the private donation secret from the public.

However it has now been revealed that Pladis were behind the substantial donation.

A spokesperson for the company said: “Since announcing the closure of our Tollcross bakery, it has always been our intention to leave a substantial legacy that would benefit the local community in the area the site was based.

“We will now explore the potential ways our donation can achieve this.”

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “The City Administration Committee agreed to accept the offer of a donation last week.

“In terms of how the money will be dispersed, officers will bring forward a further report in due course.”

Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland secretary, said the loss of the McVitie’s factory cost the Scottish economy an estimated £50m a year as Pladis had refused to consider any option but closure.

She said: “The 470 workers summarily laid off by Pladis will take cold comfort from its charity three years later.

“The people of Glasgow deserve more than the crumbs from the table of a multinational that made £100m in profits last year.

“They need good jobs and good employers who show loyalty and commitment to workers and their communities.”

Ms Gilmour went on to slam the company for attempting to carry out a “hush-hush” deal behind doors to leave a “legacy” in the city – and should instead have kept the factory running.

“Pladis should not be leaving a ‘legacy’ in the East End of Glasgow, it should still be running a factory there.

“Doing hush-hush deals behind closed doors with multinationals who have shown no interest in listening to local and national government when it actually matters is no way for Glasgow City Council to go about its business.

“There can be no more secrecy, this offer needs to be dragged into the light and the people of Glasgow deserve to know exactly what is going on and why.”

Glasgow & West

Final biscuit baked as Scotland’s McVitie’s factory ceases production

The Glasgow plant first opened in 1925, but it closed this week.

Pladis’ decision to donate £1m has also been slammed by Scottish Labour MSP Paul Sweeney, who said the donation would be “cold comfort” to those who lost their jobs when the factory closed its doors.

He said: “The economic damage inflicted on the east end of the city when 470 skilled workers were made redundant from the plant is far in excess of this tokenistic million pounds offered up to Glasgow City Council.

“When workers left the site for the final time in 2022, they left behind state-of-the-art machinery that was dismantled and shipped off to McVitie’s factories in England.

“The company also stands to profit from the eventual redevelopment of the former factory site.

“With my colleagues in GMB Scotland and Unite, I campaigned to oppose the closure of the Tollcross biscuit works and worked to find alternatives.

“I know this donation will be cold comfort to former employees of McVitie’s and the people of the east end of Glasgow.”