Business behind secret £1 million donation to Glasgow City Council revealed
The owners of McVitie's, Pladis, have secretly donated £1 million to Glasgow City Council following the controversial closure of their Tollcross�
Last week, at a private meeting, councillors were told Pladis want to hand over £1 million to the local authority.
It is understood the money will be spent in the East End of the city, where the firm closed its factory in 2022, with the loss of around 470 jobs.
(Image: GV of the McVitie's factory at Tollcros Road, Tollcross, Glasgow. McVities owners, Pladis announced)
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The shock closure of the Tollcross plant after nearly 100 years of production, was despite the efforts of an action group, led by union chiefs, business people, and politicians, including Kate Forbes and council leader Susan Aitken.
Unions estimated that shutting the business and the knock-on impact on suppliers cost the Scottish economy around £50m.
It is understood councillors accepted the donation last week at a private session of the City Administration Committee.
Unusually â as reported by our sister paper, the Glasgow Times â the senior council officials in the Chief Executiveâs Department who were involved in talks were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
No members of the public or press were allowed to hear the committee's discussion.
(Image: McVities)
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The demand for privacy came from Pladis, who made clear that they did not want to talk publicly about the donation or even have it acknowledged.
Officers will prepare a further report to the committee to discuss how the money will be spent in Tollcros, and whether it will be through grants to organisations or groups in that part of the city, or some other means.
Pladis acquired McVitie's in 2014 after taking over United Biscuits and is now reportedly the third-biggest biscuit maker in the world.
(Image: McVities factory in Tollcross)
They reported record sales growth of 14.9% during 2023, reporting revenue of £984.4m in the year to 31 December 2023, up from £857.1m in 2022.
The rise was because of a hike in the cost of biscuits, which was in response to unprecedented high inflation.
Murat Ulker, chairman of Pladis and the richest man in Turkey, is believed to be worth around £4.3 billion.
McVitie's traces its roots to the original Scottish biscuit maker, McVitie & Price Ltd, which was established in 1830 in Edinburgh.
It is not the first controversial donation to Glasgow City Council from a biscuit company.
Scotland's largest local authority previously accepted a brand new £235,000 Rolls-Royce from Sir Boyd Tunnock.
The caramel wafer and teacake tycoon, 89 gifted the local authority the luxury car in 2018.
However, it was only used for around a year, before being sold at auction in 2022 for around £105,000, with the money used to support a number of projects and charitable funds.
Glasgow City Council and Pladis have been approached for comment.
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