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Daily Record
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Record
Alexander Dennis job losses in Scotland 'not a done deal' as firm urges increase in orders
The bus firm said orders for up to 100 buses and changes to regulation are needed before the end of the year. Bosses at the Alexander Dennis bus firm have said the closure of sites at Scotland is 'not a done deal'. But the company told MSPs that orders for up to 100 buses and changes to regulation are needed before the end of the year. Plans under consultation by the bus firm would close their Falkirk plant and cease production at the nearby Larbert factory, with 400 jobs at risk. The jobs would instead be consolidated at a single site in Scarborough. In evidence to a Holyrood committee, the firm 's boss said of the job loss plan north of the border. 'It's absolutely not a done deal, it is a consultation process,' said president and managing director Paul Davies. 'We're very grateful for the active engagement we've had from both governments, from other political parties and stakeholders – we're absolutely committed to keeping those conversations going, along with this committee too. 'But there are, for us, other implications around the long-term, the runway, is the market dynamic going to change? 'Our assumptions are, if they don't change, we have to take action to look after the company.' But Davies told the committee the firm would need to see consistent orders to help stabilise the future of the business in Scotland. He said this would be around 70 to 100 buses by the end of the year and 300 to 400 for next year. Calls have been made for a furlough scheme to be put in place, with the Government being urged to step in and pay workers until building can begin. At a meeting of the committee this week, trade union bosses estimated such a scheme would cost between £4 million and £5 million. Davies stressed that for the move to be avoided altogether, there would have to be a shift in the UK market on bus manufacturing to ensure the company could stay in the Forth Valley. 'It's a broader conversation, rather than just saying that an order will stop the consultation process,' he said. Davies added: 'From our perspective, there's wider issues. Obviously there's conversation around a potential furlough scheme, but that for us is really part of a wider issue around ongoing demand and the issue of reform and the Subsidy Control Act conversations that have been around for some time.'
The Herald Scotland
19-06-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Swinney did ‘nothing' to save bus jobs says Sarwar
Mr Sarwar cited a letter from August 2024 — first disclosed in The Herald — in which Paul Soubry, president and chief executive of Alexander Dennis's parent company NFI Group, wrote directly to the SNP leader warning that the Government's procurement decisions risked undermining Scotland's domestic bus manufacturing industry. READ MORE The company has since proposed consolidating its manufacturing operations in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, putting around 400 jobs at risk in Falkirk and Larbert. 'John Swinney received a letter almost a year ago directly from the company,' Mr Sarwar told MSPs, 'setting out how his decision to buy buses from China instead of from Scotland was putting the company and jobs at risk.' 'He did nothing for the skilled workforce. But last week, as usual, he tried to find someone else to blame for his own failure by talking about UK procurement laws — laws that did not stop Andy Burnham buying Scottish buses, but somehow stop this SNP Scottish Government.' Mr Swinney rejected the accusation, insisting the Scottish Government had taken action following the August letter, including setting up work between the firm and Scottish Enterprise. He said ministers had maintained a 'positive dialogue' with Alexander Dennis, which had 'expressed appreciation' for Government support, including £58 million in zero-emission bus funding. 'We established work for Scottish Enterprise with the company to support the company in securing its future,' he said. 'That work was taken forward as a consequence of that dialogue.' But critics said the scale of the support did not match the urgency of the warning from Mr Soubry, who in his letter expressed 'regret' that Scottish Government decisions had left the firm feeling it had 'no choice but to reconsider our entire investment in the Scottish operations of Alexander Dennis'. The Scottish Labour leader also pointed to procurement data showing that since receiving the letter, the Scottish Government had not ordered a single bus from Alexander Dennis, while Greater Manchester — operating under the same UK legal framework — had placed significantly more orders. In a new letter from UK Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden to Mr Sarwar, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster acknowledged that while UK subsidy rules prevent tying grants to domestic purchases, there is nothing to stop governments awarding subsidies directly to manufacturers such as Alexander Dennis. (Image: Cabinet Office) He also said the Scottish Government could use the Crown Commercial Service framework — where Alexander Dennis is already a supplier — to apply social value criteria favouring local industry or to issue a direct award. Under the new Procurement Act, bids from countries such as China, which are not party to UK trade agreements, can also be lawfully disregarded. Mr McFadden wrote: 'The Subsidy Control Act does not prevent manufacturers, such as Alexander Dennis, receiving subsidies directly and this remains an open, and viable, option for the Scottish Government.' He added that the Procurement Act 'allows contracting authorities to disregard bids from non-treaty state suppliers, which includes countries like China'. Alexander Dennis has argued that Scottish Government policy failed to align with its own just transition principles, noting that 83% of orders under the second phase of the Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB2) went to manufacturers in China and Egypt. The company received just 17% of the 252-bus order, despite its long-standing presence in Falkirk and years of support from Scottish Enterprise. Andrew Learmonth Kathleen Nutt; Hannah Brown; Rebecca McCurdy Deborah Anderson; Catherine Salmond undefined 60% of recipients have opened this mail. undefined Hello, Can we start adding this source code to the bottom of every politics article? It will bring up an advert and a link to Unspun Live. To add it you need to click this button on Martini. That will take you into HTML mode. And then scroll down to the bottom of the article and then copy and paste the code below. If you click on the source button again you should be able to see if it's worked. @Deborah Anderson Can we get colleagues to do this when they're working on politics tales?
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
We will do everything we can to save Alexander Dennis jobs, vows Swinney
The Scottish Government will do 'everything we can' to support jobs at bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis, the First Minister has said. The company announced on Wednesday it is proposing to consolidate its UK operations at a single site in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The decision puts 400 jobs at risk at its facility in Falkirk in another blow to the Forth Valley, which has already seen more than 400 jobs go at the Grangemouth refinery this year. Speaking at First Minister's Questions on Thursday, John Swinney said he is 'deeply concerned'. He told the chamber: 'This issue has been occupying a great deal of the focus and the attention of the Deputy First Minister and I and the UK Government ministers since we became aware of the situation over the last few weeks, and then ultimately to the decision that was announced yesterday.' He said his Government has 'supported' the manufacturer. But Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused Holyrood ministers of overlooking Scottish industry in favour of ordering buses from China, while pointing to the order from Alexander Dennis of around 160 vehicles by the publicly-owned network in Greater Manchester. In Scotland, public service buses are procured by private operators, who then run them on routes across the country. Mr Swinney said state aid regulations – in the form of the UK-wide Subsidy Control Act – prevent the Government from directly procuring from a single supplier like Alexander Dennis. He quoted a joint letter from the UK and Scottish governments, which pledged to 'work closely with Alexander Dennis at this challenging time'. He added: 'That's us indicating that we're keen to do everything we can to find a way through the Subsidy Control Act provisions, so the Government can continue to operate within the law, which we must do, but also, we can support manufacturing in Scotland, which is my priority.' Speaking to journalists after First Minister's Questions, Mr Swinney said the possibility of a furlough scheme for staff impacted by the announcement – as suggested by Scottish Secretary Ian Murray on Wednesday – is on the table. In the chamber, Mr Sarwar said: 'If John Swinney can't figure out a way to order buses in Scotland, I suggest he picks up the phone to (Greater Manchester Mayor) Andy Burnham and see how he managed to do it. 'Almost five times as many bus orders from Manchester.' Mr Sarwar's claim stems from the second phase of the Scottish Government's green bus initiative ScotZEB, which ordered 44 buses from Alexander Dennis. However, according to a press release from the time, 137 buses were ordered from the firm in the first phase, amounting to a total of 181. In a statement, Mr Burnham – who has visited the Falkirk site – said: 'Our iconic Bee Network buses are a bit of Scotland right here in Greater Manchester. 'We have over 160 Alexander Dennis buses criss-crossing our city-region every day – connecting our communities to opportunity. 'If Greater Manchester can invest in world-class Scottish bus manufacturing, then why can't the SNP Scottish Government?'
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
We will do everything we can to save Alexander Dennis jobs, vows Swinney
The Scottish Government will do 'everything we can' to support jobs at bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis, the First Minister has said. The company announced on Wednesday it is proposing to consolidate its UK operations at a single site in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The decision puts 400 jobs at risk at its facility in Falkirk in another blow to the Forth Valley, which has already seen more than 400 jobs go at the Grangemouth refinery this year. Speaking at First Minister's Questions on Thursday, John Swinney said he is 'deeply concerned'. He told the chamber: 'This issue has been occupying a great deal of the focus and the attention of the Deputy First Minister and I and the UK Government ministers since we became aware of the situation over the last few weeks, and then ultimately to the decision that was announced yesterday.' He said his Government has 'supported' the manufacturer. But Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused Holyrood ministers of overlooking Scottish industry in favour of ordering buses from China, while pointing to the order from Alexander Dennis of around 160 vehicles by the publicly-owned network in Greater Manchester. In Scotland, public service buses are procured by private operators, who then run them on routes across the country. Mr Swinney said state aid regulations – in the form of the UK-wide Subsidy Control Act – prevent the Government from directly procuring from a single supplier like Alexander Dennis. He quoted a joint letter from the UK and Scottish governments, which pledged to 'work closely with Alexander Dennis at this challenging time'. He added: 'That's us indicating that we're keen to do everything we can to find a way through the Subsidy Control Act provisions, so the Government can continue to operate within the law, which we must do, but also, we can support manufacturing in Scotland, which is my priority.' Speaking to journalists after First Minister's Questions, Mr Swinney said the possibility of a furlough scheme for staff impacted by the announcement – as suggested by Scottish Secretary Ian Murray on Wednesday – is on the table. In the chamber, Mr Sarwar said: 'If John Swinney can't figure out a way to order buses in Scotland, I suggest he picks up the phone to (Greater Manchester Mayor) Andy Burnham and see how he managed to do it. 'Almost five times as many bus orders from Manchester.' Mr Sarwar's claim stems from the second phase of the Scottish Government's green bus initiative ScotZEB, which ordered 44 buses from Alexander Dennis. However, according to a press release from the time, 137 buses were ordered from the firm in the first phase, amounting to a total of 181. In a statement, Mr Burnham – who has visited the Falkirk site – said: 'Our iconic Bee Network buses are a bit of Scotland right here in Greater Manchester. 'We have over 160 Alexander Dennis buses criss-crossing our city-region every day – connecting our communities to opportunity. 'If Greater Manchester can invest in world-class Scottish bus manufacturing, then why can't the SNP Scottish Government?' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Scotsman
12-06-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Alexander Dennis: SNP Government accused of prioritising foreign firms as 400 jobs face axe
Scottish Labour say the First Minister should follow the lead of Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who has procured around 160 vehicles from the Falkirk facility. Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... John Swinney says his government will 'do everything we can' to save hundreds of jobs at bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis, as Scottish ministers were accused of prioritising foreign firms. The bus firm on Wednesday announced it was consolidating its UK operations to a single site in Scarborough, putting 400 jobs at its Falkirk site at risk. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The First Minister said: 'This issue has been occupying a great deal of the focus and the attention of the deputy first minister and I and the UK government ministers since we became aware of the situation over the last few weeks, and then ultimately to the decision that was announced yesterday.' Around 400 jobs are at risk at Alexander Dennis in Falkirk. | Michael Gillen/National World During First Minister's Questions on Thursday, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused Mr Swinney of ordering electric buses from China rather than from the Falkirk facility. Mr Sarwar said Labour Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham had been able to order around 160 vehicles from Alexander Dennis. Mr Swinney said the UK Subsidy Control Act prevented the Scottish Government from directly procuring from a single supplier, but pledged to 'work closely with Alexander Dennis at this challenging time'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Swinney said: 'That's us indicating that we're keen to do everything we can to find a way through the Subsidy Control Act provisions, so the Government can continue to operate within the law, which we must do, but also, we can support manufacturing in Scotland, which is my priority.' Speaking afterwards, Mr Sarwar said: 'Under the SNP, the Scottish Government is procuring more buses from China than they are from Scotland. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar during a visit to the Alexander Dennis site. | Jane Barlow/Press Association 'Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has bought almost four times as many buses from Alexander Dennis than the SNP Government. That's shameful and yet another example of weak leadership from John Swinney. 'When Scotland needs buses, they buy from China, when we need steel for bridges, they buy from China, when we need ferries, they buy from Poland and Turkey.
