DRINKS giant Diageo last night said it was "convinced" its plan to close the Johnnie Walker bottling plant was best for the long-term future of the brand.
However, Andrew Morgan, president of Diageo Europe allayed fears that the firm wants to move bottling operations out of Scotland.
Last week the firm said it may shut the Kilmarnock factory and the Port Dundas grain distillery in Glasgow, which cou
ld see a total of 900 workers lose their jobs. The Kilmarnock plant closure alone may see 700 jobs lost.
Andrew Morgan, president of Diageo Europe, said the decision had not been taken lightly but was thought to be the best option for the company.
He said: "We have found this a very difficult decision to make. It's taken us a while to land on what is a big decision.
"However for the long-term health of the business I'm convinced it's absolutely the right thing for us to be doing and alongside that we now need to work with the people of Kilmarnock to have this come about in the best possible way for them."
He added: "This is in no way an attempt to take bottling out of Scotland. We firmly believe that consumers love the idea that Scotch whisky is completely produced end to end within the Scottish Borders."
The House of Commons will next Wednesday debate the closure plans. It comes after the matter was raised at Prime Minister's Questions earlier this week and boosts hopes of a cross-party campaign to persuade Diageo to maintain the brand's links with Kilmarnock.
Des Browne, the MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun who secured the debate, said: "Diageo's proposals will have a devastating effect on my constituency. Already, East Ayrshire has one of the highest rates of unemployment and poverty in the country.
"It is right we are given the opportunity to debate the likely affects of this decision, the way it has been announced without consultation, and the wider implications of the severance of two centuries of links between Scotch whisky and Kilmarnock."
Meanwhile, SNP MSP for Kilmarnock and Louden, Willie Coffey, described as "outrageous" Diageo's plans to move 64 jobs from Hurlford, on the outskirts of Kilmarnock, to an outside company in Linwood, Renfrewshire, in September.
