Local Member of the Scottish Parliament for East Lothian, Paul McLennan MSP, recently paid his first visit to our Dunbar Cement Plant since being elected to the Scottish Parliament last year.
Having been a local councillor for over 15 years, Mr McLennan is already familiar with the site, which is Scotland’s only cement manufacturing facility.
An overview of Tarmac and its national operations was followed by a more in-depth look at the Dunbar operation and community involvement. Mr McLennan was interested to hear about a Tarmac-funded cycle path which takes cyclists along the re-routed N76 path. One of several local projects being supported by Tarmac, the path starts at the war memorial on the A1087, linking up with the existing route 1 kilometre later and following the East Coast Mainline.
During a wide-ranging discussion about Scottish and UK issues, Mr McLennan offered his support in highlighting potential work opportunities at Tarmac with local schools and colleges. East Lothian currently sits below the Scottish average for people in employment, so the potential to match young people with jobs on their doorstep can only work to everyone’s advantage.
Mr McLennan said: “I am passionate about skills development and job creation in East Lothian and it is clear to me that Tarmac can offer both. I want to work with the local management team to ensure that no matter where you come from or what your background is, my constituents know that there are possible opportunities at Tarmac.
“Coupled with Tarmac’s robust policies around diversity, everyone has a chance to take the first steps to a new career.”
Tarmac’s plant manager, Chris Bradbury, added: “Tarmac is a great place to work and offers valuable skills training which many colleagues have used to take themselves to other operations around the world. Start locally and who knows where you might end up.
“It was great to welcome Paul on-site as our ‘new’ MSP and we look forward to working with him in the future.”
