Textile firm Johnstons of Elgin warns of job loses

One of Scotland's most famous textile firms has announced it is to shed dozens of jobs.

Moray-based Johnstons of Elgin said it had taken the decision to restructure its business because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The company said it hoped to avoid making compulsory redundancies.

Sixty-five jobs are at risk at its Elgin mill and there could be losses at its large manufacturing base in Hawick in the Scottish Borders.

Johnstons of Elgin said the move reflected the "new realities" it was facing in most of its markets around the world, having been closed for several months due to the pandemic.

The company was founded in 1797 ad manufactures and sells cashmere and fine woollens. It employs about 1,000 people.

'Unsettling time'

Chief executive Simon Cotton said: "Our community in Elgin is at the heart of our business as well as the incredible skills and capabilities of our team, therefore this is not a decision we have taken lightly, but out of necessity to protect the long-term health of the business.

"We will do everything within our power to mitigate the number of redundancies but we know that this will be an unsettling time for our workforce and our intention is to manage this process quickly and fairly."

He added: "Our priority will be to maintain our exceptional skills and capabilities so that we can build on these in the future as the situation starts to improve again."

Moray Conservative MP Douglas Ross said: "Johnstons is an important local employer that has a proud history here in Moray - we have to ensure it can recover and re-emerge from the pandemic stronger than ever."

Hawick Conservative MP, John Lamont added: "The Scottish Borders has a proud history of producing world-class textiles so this is clearly a blow to the local textiles industry and the wider local economy."