Border Telegraph | News | Hope for Pringle employees

Wednesday, 20th August, 2008

Published: Wednesday, 9th July, 2008 09:00

Hope for Pringle employees

By Alexa Brown

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FINANCE Secretary John Swinney visited the Hawick site of knitwear company Pringle last week, vowing that the Scottish Government will assist in any way possible to support the 80 employees who could face redundancies if the firm relocates production abroad.

In a meeting with company bosses on Wednesday, July 2, Mr Swinney proposed working with other textile companies in the area in order to find alternative employment for Pringle staff if the cuts were made.

He said: “I’m very concerned by the loss of employment at Pringle. I took the opportunity of my visit to the Borders to go to Hawick to see the management and also to see the trade unions and the representatives of the local community and workforce.

“It’s clear the company has to make its own decisions and what we will be doing is working with other textile companies to find alternative employment for the individuals affected. The textile sector is very important for the Borders and for Scotland.”

Meanwhile local MSP Christine Grahame has demanded that Pringle remove the Scottish logo from their brand after the decision to move production out of Hawick.

Ms Grahame said: “Our country enjoys a very good reputation for quality and integrity and it would be wrong to allow that reputation to be used only to maximise its profits when they no longer have any material investment in Scotland or to Scottish workers.”

abrown@bordertelegraph.com

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