LOCAL POLITICIANS MEET MINERVA STAFF TO DISCUSS ADMINISTRATION

Local politicians; Richard Arkless MP, Emma Harper MSP & Joan McAlpine MSP, met with employees of Minerva People, facing redundancy following the announcement that administrators had been called into the firm.

 
Minerva People, a Dumfries based training and recruitment specialist, revealed it had been experiencing financial problems for some time following cuts to its Modern Apprenticeship training programmes.  The firm provided hundreds of courses to young people in various fields including IT, customer service, hospitality and computing. Commenting, Mr Arkless said, “I was very pleased that the Minerva employees came in to discuss their concerns with Joan, Emma and myself – we will do everything that we can to help them. It is an extremely worrying time for everyone affected, but I was struck that everyone’s first concern was not for their own jobs, but for those currently undergoing training.

“We were pleased to be able to reassure them that although things are still very uncertain, early indications are that the trainee positions will be protected.”

Minerva have 15 employees, but a further 8 people are employed there on a temporary basis, meaning that 23 people are facing the prospect of losing their job.

Mr Arkless added, “These job losses, on top of the positions recently lost at Penmans, are a devastating blow to Dumfries.  I will be doing all I can to help the staff at Minerva and I will also be looking at what more can be done to help to develop Dumfries and bring high quality jobs back into the town.”