Efforts to find employment for workers made redundant by Angus firm John M Henderson are already starting to pay off, according to the First Minister.
Alex Salmond told Holyrood three modern apprentices had secured new jobs through an employment initiative held in the wake of the Arbroath engineering company’s administration.
He pledged to offer more Scottish Government support for the rest of the 89 people left out of work after the devastating news of the firm’s collapse.
At First Minister’s Questions Angus South MSP Graeme Dey asked: “What action is the Scottish Government taking in response to that major blow to the economy and the affected employees?
“In particular, how might it help the tremendous efforts that are being made by Angus Training Group to assist apprentices who are caught up in the situation to find alternative opportunities to pursue their planned careers?”
The First Minister responded: “I assure Graeme Dey that Scottish Enterprise and the industry secretary will be fully engaged, as will Pace (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment), to try to ensure that as many as possible of the highly skilled workforce follow the three apprentices into secure employment as quickly as possible.”