Burnham is urged to 'walk the walk' on reindustrialisation as Chinese-owned firm puts 377 Grangemouth jobs at risk

From the Newshound archive · first published 1 October 2026 · last updated 3 October 2026.

Chemical giant Syngenta, owned by the Chinese state company Sinochem, has begun formal consultations on closing its Grangemouth plant, putting 377 jobs at risk. The blow lands just over a year after the firm received more than £2m in Scottish Enterprise funding — around £1m of which has already been paid out. It is the second major jobs catastrophe to hit Grangemouth in a year, following the closure of the Ineos oil refinery with more than 400 losses in April last year.

Labour MP Brian Leishman, who called his meeting with Syngenta 'poorly' received, is writing to Prime Minister Burnham demanding he visit Grangemouth and intervene personally.

Syngenta says it will repay the £1m in public money already received from Scottish Enterprise if operations cease — but Leishman has questioned whether any genuine consultation is under way.

'Andy Burnham talks a great game about reindustrialisation — this is his opportunity to deliver that,' Leishman told LBC.