THE Scottish ice cream firm at the centre of a controversial move to Yorkshire has issued a statement addressing concerns — with the new managing director telling customers he is "a Scotsman", but this is "not a 'Scotland/England' issue".
We told on Tuesday how Cream o’ Galloway, founded in 1994, will move to a manufacturing site outside Masham in Yorkshire after being bought by Brymor a year ago.
A statement on the website said this would allow the business to “benefit from newer, more efficient equipment”.
Later in the week, First Minister John Swinney said the Scottish Government would "engage" with Cream o' Galloway to find a way of any potential continuation of production in Scotland.
Now, the managing director has issued a statement defending the move and told followers he "does not see this as a 'Scotland/England' issue although some do, as we are part of Great Britain."
The statement further detailed redundancies made by the firm during the restructure, in which there have been two as well as shared a change in the company's logo. The brand name and logo will remain, however “made on the farm” will now say “made on the farm by Brymor”.
It was signed off by Brymor Ice Cream managing director, Paul Hodgson, shared that he "grew up on a farm outside of New Galloway," later going to school and university in Scotland.
He said: "I am Scotsman, running a dairy and ice cream business in North Yorkshire and Galloway now".
The statement said: "The sales and distribution and storage has been moved to just outside Castle Douglas so we can continue to sell and distribute Cream o’ Galloway Ice Cream, across Dumfries and Galloway and wider within Scotland.
"We will manufacture the ice cream at our farm at Brymor."
"I appreciate this is sensitive, but we are totally focused on keeping this brand, working within the local community, within Dumfries and Galloway, within Scotland, and making this a success," he added.
It was also revealed that the founders and previous owners intended to close the business in 2023, but Bymor took over with all staff with no redundancies.
The statement continued: "It was evident from the outset that the manufacturing equipment was tired and worn out. The whole site infrastructure was tired. The outdoor play area was closed/condemned and needed to be removed.
"So, like anything that is old and worn out, the repairs and maintenance costs rise. This issue became more and more evident as we traded through 2024, and this coupled with other issues meant that we viewed that the site was no longer safe. The site required significant investment which could not be justified, and we must change to have a viable sustainable solution. So hence the reason for this restructure."
Several team members are remaining in Scotland to work on sales and distribution, with one team leader made redundant, as well as one cook position.
Hodgson added: "We recognise this decision is 'unpalatable' to some, but this business has been neglected now for almost 10 years and suffered from no investment or new product development such as the introduction of new flavour or offerings.
"We do not see this as a “Scotland/England” issue although some do, as we are part of Great Britain. We have moved the production, southeast 150 miles because that is where we are, and we have the capacity to make this happen.
"I should note that this business was put on the market and anyone in Dumfries and Galloway or Scotland could have bought this business. Others did not pursue this opportunity for the very reason which was the actual state of the business. We saw synergies with our own business. However, I reiterate that the actual situation was worse than we anticipated and hence the need for change."
