End of an era,Johnnie Walker is moving out.

goldspanners

shelovestobuystuff wrote: »

.I cant see how Leven is better in that way?

i can, the majority of thier product will be exported, it currently get packaged and exported in cambuslang and kirckaldy,then off to the dock at rosyth,so moving it from kilmarnock to cambuslang and then off to rosyth is a bit of transportation.
but if you move it from leven to kirckaldy then to rosyth this would probably save a few quid per year on transoprtation costs.

shelovestobuystuff

Yep,goldspanners is absolutely right.I looked into it a bit more and theres no way on earth any amount of petition signing or local protests is going to change this decision.
They are cutting out a very,very large chunk of fuel costs by moving to Leven and having everything moved around by their existing rail system up there.No more trucks from killie to wherever will save them hundreds of thousands a year.
Another thing I discovered is that although they state move all work to Leven within 2 years,they are working on a massive new bonded warehouse facility with the deadline of the end of THIS year,purpose of it is to move all stock from kilmarnock.
So although I am dissapointed by this I can now see why they are doing it.I just hope now that they set up some sort of little museum to Johnnie Walker in the home town.

goldspanners

shelovestobuystuff wrote: »

Yep,goldspanners is absolutely right.I looked into it a bit more and theres no way on earth any amount of petition signing or local protests is going to change this decision.
They are cutting out a very,very large chunk of fuel costs by moving to Leven and having everything moved around by their existing rail system up there.No more trucks from killie to wherever will save them hundreds of thousands a year.
Another thing I discovered is that although they state move all work to Leven within 2 years,they are working on a massive new bonded warehouse facility with the deadline of the end of THIS year,purpose of it is to move all stock from kilmarnock.
So although I am dissapointed by this I can now see why they are doing it.I just hope now that they set up some sort of little museum to Johnnie Walker in the home town.

its a sad thing to see a local thing like this disappear,trust me im from motherwell,remember the ravenscraig steel works anyone? (still nothing took its place here)
this was a bigger loss to motherwell than diageo closing its kilmarnock plant and for totally different reasons, but times change,things come and things go,i know it can be a bit sentimental,but as im sure you would agree large factories that were built in towns and cities have long outgrown thier sites in these modern times. when the factory was bulit folk would have walked there,nowadays everyone wants to drive to work. lorries are bigger than they were back then aswell. i dont think infrastructure is a poor excuse for relocation to be honest,i would think this would be a main reason to relocate to a large facility on the edge of a town with room to expand if need be.with great worldwide transport links.

ailuro2

Just back from a couple of days in Killie - was heartened to see signs underneath every 'Welcome to Kilmarnock' sign into the town saying 'Keep Johnnie walker here'

Also on the road signs giving info - the road at Hurlford and Galston closes on 25/26th July also shows 'Keep Johnnie Walker in Kilmarnock' every third message that comes up.


Most shops have a poster in the window, and there was a petition sheet available at the till in the Little Chef next to the Travelodge where we stayed.


It seems to be well rogansied, and I do hope there can be some sort of way to keep a bit of JW in Killie - there are already lots of shops and pubs closed down - even the Tesco in centre of town has closed, and we were shocked to see the old Safeway lying in a pile of rubble.

There is an Aldi and a Lidl though. It does seem to suggest Killie isn't prospering like it once was...

shelovestobuystuff

The local council have organised,or help organise,a big protest rally this Sunday 26th to ptotest against the closure of Johnnie Walkers in Kilmarnock.It leaves Howard Park at 1pm,musical entertainment in the Howard from 12 noon.It continues up under the arches at Garden Street,past the factory on Hill Street before continuing to Kay Park via Strawberry bank.
The protest march is expected to reach the Kay Park around 2.30pm and there will be loads of family activities entertainment laid on at that park.
The council have supplied placards for the event and anyone who wishes to attend and make their own placard can print off a copy from the East Ayrshire council website http://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/
More info here too http://www.keepjohnniewalkerinkilmarnock.com/

I saw the details on the local freecycle cafe network.

shelovestobuystuff

ailuro2 wrote: »

Just back from a couple of days in Killie - was heartened to see signs underneath every 'Welcome to Kilmarnock' sign into the town saying 'Keep Johnnie walker here'

Also on the road signs giving info - the road at Hurlford and Galston closes on 25/26th July also shows 'Keep Johnnie Walker in Kilmarnock' every third message that comes up.


Most shops have a poster in the window, and there was a petition sheet available at the till in the Little Chef next to the Travelodge where we stayed.

It seems to be well rogansied, and I do hope there can be some sort of way to keep a bit of JW in Killie - there are already lots of shops and pubs closed down - even the Tesco in centre of town has closed, and we were shocked to see the old Safeway lying in a pile of rubble.
There is an Aldi and a Lidl though. It does seem to suggest Killie isn't prospering like it once was...

Wherever theres an Aldi theres a Lidl,kind off like nettles and docken leafs:rolleyes:

Its good to see there is so much support in Kilmarnock for Johnnie Walkers,its such a big part of the towns history.Apart from the Tannahills furniture shop and Sinforianis(small family businesses) I think the Johnnie Walkers factory is last long standing business left,and the only big employer left in the town other than tesco.Tesco had petition posts outside their stores too(at the new big store just down from the little town centre one they closed).
I dont really know if most folk feel they can actually change the companies decision.Personally I see the rally on Sunday as more of a farewell party or day of mourning,maybe thats defeatist of me,maybe its realistic.
The people of Kilmarnock certainly wont let Johnnie Walker stide off into the distance without a bit of a fight,whether it will do any good is another matter but at least they will try.

Wow,I just seen on the local news that there were to be 900 job losses,they are going to shut the Glasgow plant too.Apparantly though there may be a reprieve depending on how the meeting with the government goes.