Chemical firm Syngenta collected £1m in Scottish Enterprise funding to create new jobs, just months before announcing plans to close its Grangemouth site. The funding was part of a larger £2.2m grant awarded in May last year to expand production at the plant.
The proposed closure would affect 377 workers. Syngenta has stated it will repay the Scottish Enterprise funding in full if operations at the site cease following consultation. The company attributed the decision to an inability to make its business at the plant "competitive" amid "increasing international competition."
Union leaders are scheduled to meet with the UK and Scottish governments regarding the job losses. Local MP Brian Leishman, who met with the company, described the meeting as having gone "poorly." Syngenta maintains that a final decision has not yet been made and that it will "continue to consider options."