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Press and Journal
22-07-2025
- Business
- Press and Journal
First ever BrewDog bar to shut as brand announces wave of closures
BrewDog's first ever bar, which is located in Aberdeen and described as 'the flagship' by brewers, is due to close its doors for good. BrewDog Gallowgate in Aberdeen has been open since 2010 and in that time has 'introduced thousands of people' to the company and its craft beer. However, a strategic review by the Ellon-based global firm has decided it is now the end of the road for the city centre bar. The company describes the venue as being 'woven into our history'. It is one of 10 across the UK to close, in which BrewDog described as being a 'difficult decision'. Their first bar in London, located in Camden, is also set to go, in a decision that was not 'taken lightly'. The company acknowledged the 'best efforts' and 'hard work' of the teams in the affected bars. However, they conceded they had not been able to 'find a formula to make these bars viable'. Size, location and other 'limiting factors' were put down as major sticking points. An email seen by The Press and Journal to BrewDog staff said: 'Following much consideration, we have sadly concluded that there is no realistic prospect of making these venues commercially viable. 'Keeping them open would put pressure on the wider business, making it harder to invest where we know we can grow. 'This decision is not simply a response to the challenging UK hospitality market, but a proactive decision to redefine the bar division's focus.' Staff have been reassured by the business they 'expect to redeploy affected team members across the BrewDog network'. For those leaving, the company has promised to 'provide as much support as possible'. The consultation process for affected staff will last no less than 14 days and will be extended if necessary to complete a 'meaningful consultation'. A spokesman for BrewDog said: 'We can confirm that following a review of our bars business we have made the difficult decision to close ten bars, which reflects a more focused strategy and a rationalisation of our bar footprint. 'Despite our best efforts and the hard work of our teams, it has simply not been possible to make these bars commercially viable.'
The National
30-06-2025
- General
- The National
Ballater residents 'dumbfounded' by slow response to fire
Emergency services were called out to a blaze at a property in Swann Place on Saturday afternoon, where two homes were destroyed and a third was damaged. Terry Gauld, who was evacuated from his home in the area, told The National that 'everyone was dumbfounded' by how long it took fire crews to attend the scene. READ MORE: Firefighters tackling wildfires in Highlands for third day He said 'without a doubt, had there been a quicker response' only one of the properties would have been fully engulfed by flames. It took responders nearly six hours to extinguish the fire after they arrived. Ballater fire services were busy tackling a wildfire in the Highlands, meaning Swann Place residents had to rely on Aberdeen-based fire crews based over an hour away. 'The whole of Deeside was left without cover,' Gauld said, and explained that whilst there were a few community firefighters on the scene, there was 'nothing they could do' since their equipment was in use elsewhere. 'I could see the frustration on their faces,' he added. Four other homes were evacuated due to the thick plumes of smoke from the fire, and nearby residents were warned to keep their doors and windows closed. READ MORE: Wildfire blazes overnight at Moray wind farm Guald was one of the Swann Place occupants told to leave the area and he told The National that there was oil burning all down the road due to a tank in one of the destroyed properties exploding. He was able to return to his undamaged house around 8pm, though he was left without power until well after midnight. There were no injuries reported as a result of the fire. According to reports from The Press and Journal, a police inquiry into the cause of the blaze is currently ongoing.
Newsroom
21-06-2025
- Newsroom
How big should a prison cell be?
Comment: The day after the 596-bed Waikeria prison expansion opened on June 5, 2025, The Press reported that Invercargill prison had New Zealand's smallest prison cells measuring 6 square metres. Our newest prison was thus juxtaposed with our oldest one, which opened 115 years ago. Over that period, the Prisons Act became the Penal Institutions Act and then the Corrections Act. Despite this centenary of legislative change, it is still possible to build a prison cell only 6 square metres because we have no legal minimum-cell size in New Zealand. But it's not just legislation that avoids specifying a minimum standard. Neither the Ombudsman's Expectations document, nor the Prison Inspectorate's Inspection Standards commit to a number. The United Nation's Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners is equally evasive. But this was not always the case. The idea of prisons having cells evolved in the 18th century. This had to do with an idea that prisoners should be forced to reflect in solitude on their sins. The space proposed for this borrowed its terminology from the religious monastic cell. In 1779, the Penitentiary Act specified cells for two national penitentiary houses where prisoners were to be penitent and reform. The cells were to be 'not less than ten feet in length, seven feet in breadth', or a minimum of 6.5 square metres. These 18th century prisons were never built. However, as New Zealand was being colonised in the 1840s, a model prison was constructed in Pentonville, north London. Its cells set a new standard of 8.4 square metres. Despite this, Invercargill was not the only New Zealand prison built with cells smaller than the Pentonville template. At Waikeria Prison, where poor prison conditions prompted a prison protest in the high security complex in late 2020, the cells central to the problems were only 6 square metres. Before the riot, the Ombudsman reported that: 'Most cells in the [Waikeria] HSC were double-bunked and conditions were unacceptably cramped for many tāne. […] Cells were in a poor state of repair. They were poorly ventilated and uncomfortably hot. Most cells accommodated two tāne [who …] ate meals on their bunks in close proximity to an uncovered toilet.' One person living in such a small cell would breach the Council of Europe's minimum standards. These require 6 square metres for a single cell plus any space needed for sanitary facilities, usually meaning 7-8 square metres. When cells are shared, the European minimum is 11-12 square metres. The lack of a specific minimum cell size in New Zealand can be rationalised because a reasonable cell size depends on how a cell is being used – for example, how many hours a day a prisoner spends in it, the number of prisoners living in it, and other factors, such as the needs of prisoners in wheelchairs. In this way, the qualitative descriptions in the Ombudsman and Inspectorate documents – which use words such as 'comfortable', 'adequate', and 'fit for purpose' – can be justified. However, the inflexibility of concrete buildings means that cells cannot grow and shrink as circumstances demand. Cells need to operate under conditions they were never built for. In recent years, staff shortages and Covid-19 have meant prisoners have spent more hours locked up in cells designed for sleeping in – not for living in. Increases in the prison population mean that cells designed for one person are now used to house two prisoners. The justice sector projections, released by the Ministry of Justice, herald a 36 percent increase in the prison population by 2035 because 'new policy settings are expected to see more offenders receive prison sentences and for those sentences to be longer'. This increase will put more pressure on prison accommodation. Ensuring prisoners spend more time out of their cells should be prioritised, but we also need a legislated minimum cell size because history has taught us that the current silence in this matter can lead to human rights abuses. The minimum size must anticipate the varying circumstances that cells inevitably accommodate. Work to progress such thinking began 35 years ago when New Zealand and Australia developed Standard Guidelines for Prison Facilities. This world-leading document set a minimum cell size of 8.75 square metres for single cells and 12.75 square metres for double cells. Building on this is important to achieve the outcomes we all want for prisoners. As former Australian inmate John Killick once observed: 'It's very hard to live with somebody virtually 24 hours a day, day in, day out in a tiny cell which … becomes a bathroom, it becomes a toilet, it becomes a study, it becomes a bedroom, and all in a tiny cell. It's not the way to go if you want to bring people into jail and rehabilitate them.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nestlé flags potential job cuts at UK factory
Nestlé said it is "proposing some changes" at a factory in York in the north of England, which could result in staff reductions. Just Food asked Nestlé to confirm the proposals following a report in the York publication The Press, suggesting 66 positions would be cut at the facility and another owned by the company in Girvan, Scotland. The Press cited a letter it claimed to have seen from the interim factory manager for York and Girvan, Simon Barker, saying Nestlé's sales had been 'affected by higher cocoa prices, which means the company will be producing lower volumes of KitKats in 2025 and 2026'. In response to Just Food's request for comment, the Nestlé spokesperson would only say: 'We are proposing some changes at our York factory to ensure manufacturing at our site is as efficient as possible. 'The proposal may involve a reduction in the number of positions required. As always, we are speaking to our employees about this proposal first and nothing will be confirmed until a consultation has been completed." No response was provided with respect to the plans at Girvan. Nestlé has also not responded to this publication's request for clarification as to what products are made at the two plants and the future plans for the sites. In 2024, Nestlé invested £150m ($199m at the time) in a Purina PetCare factory in the UK, as part of a series of investments in the sector. The company planned to expand the site in Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, which makes pet food under brands including Felix, Gourmet and Winalot. Nestlé said the move would create 40 roles at the pet-food facility, which employed 600 workers at the time. In 2023, Nestlé ceased production of its caramel-based Caramac bars in the UK. The decision was made due to falling sales, the Swiss giant had said. "Nestlé flags potential job cuts at UK factory" was originally created and published by Just Food, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Press and Journal
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Press and Journal
Greek war vessels arrive at Buckie Harbour as filming of The Odyssey ramps-up
In what could be the biggest clue that The Odyssey is due to start filming in Moray very soon, a number of wooden ships have been spotted at Buckie Harbour. Excitement has been building since The Press and Journal first reported that filming of the blockbuster movie was due to get under way soon at sites across the region. The film is to be the most expensive of Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan's career and has attracted a top cast. Confirmed cast picks include Matt Damon in the lead role, with Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron and Robert Pattinson. Last week, The P&J reported that setup had already begun at the historic ruin Findlater Castle, with visitors prohibited from visiting until the end of July. Filming infrastructure has also begun arriving at other locations in recent days, including at Culbin Forest near Forres. There has also been activity at Buckie Loch, where equipment as well as trailers and tents were spotted on site. Now a number of Greek-style wooden ships have arrived at Buckie Harbour. Pictures show five war boats of varying size, which are similar to those spotted on the film set in Greece. The epic film dramatises the journey of the ancient Greek king of Ithaca back home to his wife following the Trojan War which, according to Greek myth, took place in the 12th and 13th centuries BC. The Odyssey is due to hit cinemas in 2026.
