Grangemouth firm took £1m of public money months before closure announcement

A chemical firm collected £1m of Scottish Enterprise funding to create new jobs - just months before announcing plans to close its Grangemouth site.

The cash was part of £2.2m awarded to Syngenta in May last year to expand production at the plant.

Union leaders are meeting with the UK and Scottish governments after nearly 400 jobs have been put at risk.

Syngenta said it would pay back the Scottish Enterprise funding in full if operations cease at the site.

The company said it had been unable to make its business at the plant "competitive" in the face of "increasing international competition".

A total of 377 workers are set to be affected by the move.

A Syngenta spokesperson said: "Scottish Enterprise's grant was awarded in support of a capital investment of close to £15m that Syngenta itself has made at the site as part of efforts to diversify activity and try and secure the site's future.

"To date we have received around half of the grant allocation (about £1m), which we intend to repay in full to Scottish Enterprise if we cease operations at Grangemouth post consultation."

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It is the latest job loss blow to the area following the closure of the nearby oil refinery in April last year, which also resulted in the loss of about 400 jobs.

In March, bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis announced plans to close its Falkirk plant with 115 roles lost, and focus its Scottish operations on the nearby Larbert site.

The UK government, under then-Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, previously pledged an additional £200m in funding for Grangemouth from the National Wealth Fund.

Local MP Brian Leishman had a meeting with the company earlier, which he said went "poorly".

Syngenta says a final decision has yet to be taken and it will "continue to consider options".

But Leishman questioned whether the company was having a "genuine consultation" on the future of the site.

He said: "Syngenta have offered one final solution and that is the closure of the plant.

"The whole purpose of a consultation is to try and figure out how we can get a path of saving jobs. That seems to be off the table here.

"They have announced that they plan to close the site by the end of 2027 - that seems very final to me. The workers deserve an awful lot better."

The Labour MP said the closure was a "Scotland-wide issue", adding: "We saw, with the closure of the refinery, over £400m disappear out of Scotland's economy.

"There's going to be a huge implication for Scotland's economy with Syngenta closing."

He urged the prime minister to "do the right thing" and save the site, similar to how the UK government saved British Steel .

"We're talking about 377 jobs on site - we will be talking about thousands of jobs in the wider supply chain," said Leishman.

"A huge piece of Scotland's manufacturing base. Scotland deserves better."

Reindustrialisation Minister Blair McDougall said the UK government would continue to work closely with Syngenta to explore all options for the site and the workforce.

He said: "I know this will be a deeply concerning time for workers at Syngenta and their families, and I met with the company yesterday to discuss all options for the site and the workforce.

"We worked closely with Syngenta and the Scottish government to explore every possible avenue to support them, but the company has now made this commercial decision.

"We remain committed to supporting jobs in Grangemouth following the hundreds we have already protected, and will work urgently with the National Wealth Fund in the next few days to explore all options for the area."

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Leishman urged both the Scottish and UK governments to work together and not turn the issue into a "political football".

Syngenta said it had undertaken a "detailed review" of its Grangemouth operation prior to the plans being announced.

It said the Grangemouth site was "significantly more expensive" to operate than other production facilities.

The company added that savings had been identified in some areas of the business, but these fell short in "bridging the site's competitiveness gap".

Mike Hollands, president of Syngenta UK, said: "The workforce at Grangemouth is highly skilled and passionate, but despite all efforts, we have not been able to make the Grangemouth site competitive compared to alternative supply options."

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