Hard cheese for Bute: last milk from First Milk in plan to close Rothesay creamery

In a major shock for Bute and for Argyll, First Milk has just announced plans to close production at its Rothesay creamery. This proposal potentially impacts on up to 19 people who are employed at the site.

All milk produced on the Isle of Bute goes to the Rothesay creamery. However, farmers on Bute have been leaving the dairy industry, seeing milk produced on the island decline by over 25% over the last two years. This leaves the creamery seriously under-used – hence First Milk’s thinking.

Interestingly, the company’s Press Release says:‘If the proposals to stop production go ahead, First Milk plans to transport the milk supplied by its (fourteen) farmers on the Isle of Bute to the Scottish mainland’.

So on the one hand it is announcing its ‘proposals’ to shut the creamery. On the other hand it is introducing an element of doubt. Is there a game going on here?

Kate Allum, executive director for cheese at First Milk says: ‘The creamery is losing money and therefore it impacts on the returns we can pass back to our farmer members.

‘Despite our sales team working hard to secure a profitable customer base for cheese produced at the site, the creamery is severely under-utilised which means that the cost of making cheese on Bute is much more expensive in comparison with many other creameries in the UK. Having assessed all our options, we believe that stopping production at the creamery is the best route to protect the returns we can pass back to our farmer members’.

First Milk will now enter into a formal 30-day consultation process with employees at the Rothesay creamery to discuss these proposals and the potential consequences for them and their roles.

Is this another community buyout situation? Bute is making a name for itself in the specialist food markets. It has some very energetic and resourceful food producers – but is this something they would be prepared to take on? What product diversifications might be open to them? Bute Ice Cream – I scream Bute?

There must be something constructive that can be pulled from this.

There is certainly a sense of an invitation of some kind, or at least a door left ajar, in the company’s statement.

Response from Jim Mather, MSP and Enterprise Minister

Jim Mather, MSP for Argyll and Bute, has already been in touch with Paul Flanagan of First Milk by email & phone and will be seeing him again next week. He has also been in touch with Councillor Robert MacIntyre in his roles as councillor and dairy farmer to make sure that everything possible is being done..

Mr Mather says: ‘Clearly, this is devastating news for the creamery staff and local suppliers, their families and the wider community. I will be working flat out to do all I can to help.

‘I am all too aware that the possible closure of the Rothesay creamery is not only devastating but also massively material to Bute and, if it goes ahead, will clearly have an hugely adverse impact on the local economy.

‘So I am keen to see if  a new owner can be found quickly so that a viable future for the creamery and its employees can be secured.

‘Obviously, if the closure goes ahead, the Scottish Government will coordinate local response teams under the Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) initiative, to provide tailored help and support for those who are made redundant’.

Response from Alan Reid

Alan Reid, MP for Argyll and Bute, says: ‘As soon as I heard the news, I went to the creamery and spoke to First Milk and some of the workers.

The workers were obviously devastated at losing their jobs.

As well as being a severe blow the creamery’s 19 workers and their families, the knock-on effect to the island’s economy is obviously serious.

First Milk have promised to still buy the milk from the island’s 14 dairy farmers and transport it to the mainland.

‘First Milk told me that there will now be a 30 day consultation period. I’ve emailed Alex Salmond and urged the Scottish Government to get involved and do all that it can to put together a rescue package to save the creamery’.

Response from Jamie McGrigor MSP

Jamie McGrigor, Argyll-based MSP for the Highlands and Islands and a farmer himself, said, on receiving the bad news: ‘This is a huge blow to the island of Bute where famously good cheese has been produced for generations.

‘The decline in profits in the dairy industry presided over by the last two governments in Scotland has led to this situation which may result in not only the loss of a good product sold both in Bute and the mainland but also the possible loss of 19 jobs  – a highly significant number in a rural community.

‘I have written to the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Richard Lochhead, asking that he looks into every opportunity of maintaining the jobs in the creamery. I will copy the letter to Jim Mather as Minister for Enterprise and also the constituency MSP for Argyll & Bute.

‘The loss of these jobs and the loss of the creamery would be a tragedy for Bute’.

First Milk

First Milk has 550 members in Scotland. As well as Rothesay, it also operates creameries on the Mull of Kintyre at Campbeltown and on the Isle of Arran, creating award-winning cheeses made with 100% guaranteed Scottish milk.

It provides Scottish milk to a number of dairy companies in Scotland including Robert Wiseman Dairies for the liquid sector as well as Nestle in Girvan, Ayrshire, for use in the confectionery market.

The original Rothesay creamery was built in 1954 as a bottling dairy, on the site of an old sawmill – just across the road from the current operation.

In the early 1960s, it was converted to a cheese-making site and continued until 1991, when the new creamery was built and the old site was demolished.

As part of the new creamery, a visitor viewing gallery was incorporated into the build, which influenced our decision to install modern cheese vats, working tables and traditional chissets to give visitors a more visual experience.

The creamery manufactures a variety of cheddars with a robust, mature flavour and a unique savoury taste.