Drivers at Müller Milk and Ingredients’ Aberdeen dairy could be affected by a review of the firm's Scottish network that may see the closure of the site.
As part of the review, Müller will conduct a 45 day consultation with staff at its Aberdeen dairy, which it said is currently operating at less than 40% capacity.
The own-account operator employs 13 tanker drivers and 9 HGV drivers at the Aberdeen dairy, but a spokesman for Müller said it was “too soon” to discuss the drivers’ future with the company.
“We’ve only just announced the consultation, and we’re going to look at the proposal and the businesses and really get under the skin of what we’re dealing with here. So we can’t talk about anything beyond that. We’re just not there yet,” he said.
Another dairy in East Kilbride is also under review, but as the site is less than 10 miles away from a large Bellshill facility that Müller plans to spend £15m on improving, any affected drivers there may be able to transfer across with minimal disruption.
Andrew McInnes, MD of Müller Milk & Ingredients, said: “It is important to stress that the status quo is just not viable in the medium term. Our Scottish dairies are inefficient and costly which is putting a brake on the innovation and investment needed to stimulate new demand for dairy products.”
Last year Müller got the green light on its proposed acquisition of Dairy Crest’s dairy operation, which it bought for around £80m. The sites affected by the Scottish network review are not related to this deal however.
