Around 300 staff have lost their jobs after an Aberdeen paper mill suddenly entered into administration leaving the workforce ‘devastated’. Stoneywood is the last of its kind in the Grampian area after opening its doors 252 years ago and becoming the backbone of the community.
But the bustling mill has now fallen silent after staff were called to a last minute meeting and informed that their time at the mill had come to an end. Calum Mackay, who worked at the mill for 10 years, told Aberdeen Live how ‘everything came to a crashing end’ after workers were given the news on Thursday.
He said: "I'm devastated, I don't think there is any other word for it. Not only have I lost my job, which for someone with my skill set is a medium concern, there's a lot of older folk who aren't going to find it easy to find a job.
"There's a lot of folk who have never worked anywhere else, they've come straight from school to Stoneywood. They don't know what it is to be without a job or how to look for one. To see the emotional distress those individuals were going through yesterday, it really was devastating.
"It was so sad to think that we'd come so close to being saved, or so we thought, to then suddenly be called to a meeting out of the blue. We were introduced to the administrators and informed that was it, everything had come crashing to an end."
A mass email was sent to Stoneywood employees asking them to attend one of two meetings yesterday afternoon. Calum was under the impression that everything was well at the mill. However, the nature of the message suggested it was something urgent.
The 35-year-old said: "It was a complete shock that the meeting was called at that short notice, that's very unusual. It wasn't quite a first for us but reading further down the email that was circulated to us we then noticed that they were going to be phoning members and colleagues who weren't going to be able to attend the two meetings they set up.
"We knew something was up because good news can usually wait." As well as being a key member of the staff at Stoneywood, the long-term employee was also the Union Convenor for his fellow colleagues.
Calum said: "We are now looking to secure the very best outcome for our members that we can. To help set people up in a strong enough position that they can find employment or go into early retirement or do whatever they choose to do.
"We need to try to ensure they don't suffer financial hardship in the climate which isn't the easiest of times. We have a lot of members who have young families and all the costs that come with that.
The mill has been a huge part of many people's lives over the hundreds of years it has been active. With many workers feeling as though they have lost a family member.
Calum was proud of his job at the mill, putting in 100 percent every time he walked through the door, forming a close bond with colleagues and the equipment.
The shocked employee added: "I've sweated, I've bled, I've cried over equipment here and so have many of my colleagues, from the managers to the guys on the shop floor, have too. We put our heart and soul into what we did here.
"With old equipment in an old institution you get really friendly with these machines. They weren't perfect, we knew that, the place wasn't perfect but it was ours and we are very proud of what we did here.
"We made a selection of products that very few mills in the world could compete with." Unite the Union were also startled by the out- of-the-blue nature in which hundreds of workers were made redundant.
Regional Officer Shauna Wright told Aberdeen Live: "No time is good to be made redundant but to be called into a mass meeting to be hold to just go home is a devastating blow to the community. We are truly stunned by this. Circa 300 people walked out yesterday, this mill has been here for 252 years.
"It's the last mill we have in the Grampian area and we have members who have been here before celebrating the management buyout which was backed by Scottish Ministers and the community. It is difficult times but it is something we thought we could get through."
Communication between the union and administrators has already begun with an update expected to be given to former colleagues in the coming days.
Ms Wright added: "It's happening very quickly. Unite have arranged a mass meeting next Tuesday and now we will have to communicate with administrators now to see if there is any hope or if there is any way if some people can be safe or if some jobs can be brought back.
"The Scottish Ministers will have a say in it as well to see if there is any support they can bring to the mill."
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