MEMBERS of staff at an Ellon supermarket face an uncertain future, as they await news of possible redundancies at the company.
Haldanes has been in consultation with union representatives and staff for some weeks in the process of reviewing staffing levels throughout the chain, including Ellon.
There are now 23 stores open and operating in Scotland and England under the t
itle. The company took over the Ellon store from Somerfield on February 20 this year.
On Monday, owner and Chairman Arthur Harris sought to assure staff that the Ellon store is not under threat, but very much part of "new exciting plans for the company".
He said these are to become clearer over the next few months.
Mr Harris told the Times: "As for redundancy, Ellon will be affected no more or no less than all the stores.
''This is a labour matching exercise to ensure the ratio of labour payments to sales is a workable one."
The company management will consider all redundancy applications before making a final decision.
Mr Harris is also said to be actively involved in talks, both in Scotland and England, on the acquisition of other stores, an announcement which he expects to be able to make soon.
Mr Harris continued: "Haldanes has already spent considerable money at Ellon and our customers are seeing many of these benefits in store.
''We are committed to ensuring that our Ellon store plays its part in offering local customer choice at competitive prices.
''We also have plans to invest new capital in the store to improve the standard we are offering to the customer."
"Haldanes are making a considerable contribution to the town through employment, payment of local taxes and extending our range of offers with an increasing range of products from local suppliers, many of whom are now benefiting from our strategy of 'refreshingly local'," he said.
Although Ellon SNP Councillor, Rob Merson has not heard anything from his constituents regarding the situation, he commented: "There is no question that the savage cuts being imposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer will have an impact on the commercial sector as well as the public sector - and there will be a great many companies forced to carry out root and branch reviews of their operations in the coming months.
"However, the North east of Scotland remains one of the most buoyant areas of the UK economy, and it will be one of the first areas to recover. It might therefore be short-sighted of the retail sector to over-react by shedding too many experienced personnel," he said.
Ellon Conservative Councillor, Gillian Owen said that she had not been contacted by her constituents on the matter, but is aware that the whole of the retail sector is under pressure.
