GSH rejected HIE financial help to save jobs

GSH rejected HIE financial help to save jobs 31/7/14

GSH Group - the company which is creating one of the biggest job loss crisis on the island of Harris for decades - rejected five business proposals aimed at avoiding redundancies, it has emerged.

Nearly 5% of the working population of Harris will lose their posts as national building repair and maintenance services GSH Group axes its Tarbert office.

GSH Harris carried out back-office tasks for the firm. However, in a restructuring after losing major contracts, the work will now be absorbed into is headquarters in Stoke on Trent in England.

The shock cuts are equivalent to 17,000 redundancies in Glasgow according to development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Western Isles Council.

Development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise hired an top business expert to assess the profile of GSH and they came up with five very comprehensive counter proposals to attract alternative work and new functions for the Harris base.

In addition, HIE has offered financial help to GSH to save the jobs.

The Scottish Government's initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) has kicked into action with Skills Development Scotland providing support to the affected employees.

PACE advisers offered staff CV and interview workshops as well as one to one meetings and guidance about different training options available.

A HIE spokesperson said: “GSH has been an important employer in Tarbert for a decade, and its decision to close comes as very sad news.

“HIE had been aware that the company was reviewing its Harris operation and we had worked in partnership with Western Isles Council and Skills Development Scotland to help the GSH staff in Tarbert explore every possible option to secure their jobs on the island.

“Now that these efforts have proved unsuccessful, our immediate priority is to assist individual staff members at this difficult time through the PACE initiative led by Skills Development Scotland.

"It is important to note that HIE owns the business centre where GSH is located, so this will remain a valuable asset for the community.

“We will work to generate new opportunities here, either through local business growth or inward investment, liaising closely with the North Harris Trust."

Alasdair Macleod, chairman of sustainable development at Western Isles Council said: “This is the equivalent of the loss of 17,500 jobs in Glasgow in what is an already fragile area.”

“This is a bitter blow to the economy of Harris and the Western Isles.

“The council - working together with HIE, Skills Development Scotland and Business Gateway have been working on all possible options with the company and it is extremely disappointing that it appears these have been

unsuccessful.

Isles MP Angus Macneil said there was a problem issue with UK employment law when Tupe employment rules - which ensures staff are taken on by winning contractor - do not apply in the Harris case.

A spokesperson for GSH said: “We have no comment to make at this time.“