John McAllion, the SSP’s candidate in the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election, has called for a boycott of Lexmark in protest at last week’s closure of its Rosyth plant, with the loss of 700 jobs.
I can see the banner now. “Workers of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but the printing quality of your documents.”
I wonder if McAllion has thought through the practicalities of his rallying call. Will the SSP switch to the likes of Epson or Hewlett-Packard, who of course wouldn’t dream of moving manufacturing to low-cost economies? Or perhaps they can just pretend capitalism doesn’t exist.
The rest of us, including the poor workers who lost their jobs, can’t afford to do that. The brutal reality is that the loss of Lexmark was inevitable and no amount of wailing or gnashing of teeth will change that.
The deal to bring Lexmark to Scotland was a quick fix that, like Take That, was very popular back in the 1990s. An unpopular Tory government, desperate to slow down the haemorrhaging of its Scottish vote, chucked barrowloads of cash at anyone who hinted at coming to set up business here. The idea sort of worked, but the list of those who’ve gone back home is pretty long.
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The economics of the decision to up sticks from Fife are alarmingly obvious when you realise that it costs less than 5p to produce a Lexmark printer cartridge in Mexico. In Scotland, the figure is £1.12. If you were a Kentucky-based company with no real loyalty to Scotland facing global competition, what would you do?
Should we ask the executive to stump up more cash to subsidise these low-skilled jobs or use the money to create more Scottish companies with a greater chance of long term survival? It’s a no-brainer, John.
Joe Noble, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise Fife, knows that. He could lose his own job in the SE shake-up, but he has been focusing on getting new jobs for the Lexmark staff. Now that’s exactly the kind of approach to take and far more productive than puffing up your chest and making naive political statements.
After Motorola shut in West Lothian, 90% of the 3,000 workers found other jobs or set up new businesses. And that was Scotland’s biggest manufacturer at the time.
Much was made of the millions in regional selective assistance paid to Lexmark. RSA used to go mainly to foreign investors, but thanks to the work of Wendy Alexander, more of the RSA goes to Scottish companies with a real prospect of building businesses.
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()Undoubtedly there will be more Lexmarks, but hopefully more JP Morgans too. It is taking on more than 100 highly skilled staff in Glasgow. It came here because we have the skills it needs, something that makes it harder for the business to head elsewhere.
Daring feat
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There is good news for a traditional Scots industry with the launch of HMS Daring this week. The first of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 ships will slip out of BAE’s Scotstoun yard into the Clyde.
It is a milestone in BAE’s contract for six Type 45s. Daring doesn’t enter service for a few years, but when it does, it will be the world’s most sophisticated warship.
Beneath the euphoria, BAE still doesn’t know if the contract will be extended to eight ships, as has been predicted. The Clyde yards will get carrier work, but if the extra ships aren’t built, there will be a gap. As we highlighted last year, there is a real possibility that without this work, some high-level jobs in the industry will be lost for ever.
If they do get the extra ships, the Clyde yards will have more than a decade of guaranteed work, safeguarding thousands of jobs.
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Glorious food
I had a very enjoyable dinner with Bob McDowell, one of Microsoft’s top executives, last week.
McDowell seemed extremely pleased with the fare at Glasgow’s Chardon D’Or and used Brian Maule’s restaurant as an example of the kind of industry Scotland should be promoting worldwide. He was making a serious point: the market for food tourism is large and Scotland boasts some great chefs.
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McDowell has been described as the software giant’s best diplomat. So he’ll have no problems persuading Jack McConnell to back up his warm words on the economy with action when the two meet next week.
McDowell believes Scotland has only a small window of opportunity to get things right. It is either a frightening wake-up call or a case of being thankful that people like him are interested in this country.
Swallow this
And finally, the Scotch Whisky Association has appointed Paul Walsh of Diageo vice-chairman. Really? The same Paul Walsh whose fight with the SWA over Diageo’s Cardhu Pure Malt a few years ago almost split the organisation down the middle? Yes, the same man. I think I need a drink.