Tweedbank food testing lab set to close with 21 jobs lost

The company, which used microbiology to test foods for various customers, including supermarkets, failed an audit run by UKAS, the national accreditation body which assesses the competence of organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services, in September.

Then, 18 of the company’s employees lost their jobs, and now the existing 21 staff have been told their jobs are also on the line.

One employee, who we have agreed not to name, told us: "They were going to apply to do another audit, but they didn’t invest any money in it. It got pushed back to February, but UKAS wasn’t available to do it until March.

"Because of that timeframe, and the loss of customers, the company said it couldn’t proceed because it wasn’t going to be profitable.

"However, there was a huge turnover for the company over the last year.

"They have told us for now, it’s a potential redundancy, but they have already started to take stuff out of the building.

"We asked what was potential about it, and they said if someone came up with a bright idea or comes up with an investor it could be turned around.

"They are basically running the business down.

"We are in a consultation period at the moment.

"The seven drivers on the staff are slightly different, as they have been told there are five roles for drivers available in Livingston, but it's a fair way to commute.”

The employee added: “It’s just a case of us waiting for the inevitable.

"In January, when they said the facility at Tweedbank was potentially closing, we were also told that the company, Eurofins, had acquired Express Microscience in Linlithgow, which is also a food testing microbiology lab, basically doing what we are doing, and they are fully accredited.

"They say it’s coincidental, but we don’t think so.

"We just got the general idea that they were no longer invested in the site.”

Mark Carnaghan, the company’s managing director, said: “I can confirm that we are consulting with all of our staff based at our Galashiels site on the potential closure of the business.

“Unfortunately, the site lost its testing accreditation at the end of September 2022 and subsequently has not been able to deliver the testing services many of our clients have come to rely on and trust in. This has meant that despite our efforts, the business has not been able to generate any sales revenue since that time.

"Despite commitment from our UK Leadership Board to continue investing in the site in a bid to regain accreditation, the timings for reaccreditation and the ongoing financial impact of having no sales revenue sadly means the business is no longer financially viable.

“We are, of course, exploring alternative outcomes and redeployment opportunities with the affected staff and will continue to consult with them, collectively and individually, on the potential closure of the site.”