Plan to save 1,700 jobs at Hall's factory is rejected The factory in Broxburn, West Lothian, which is also the world's biggest haggis producer, would have been bought by a consortium headed by the Scottish government and leased back to the current owners, Vion. But Vion said the proposal, put forward by John Swinney, the Scottish Finance Secretary, was insufficient to stem losses of £79,000 a day, bringing the demise of the 80-year-old plant a stage closer. "What we were trying to do in this proposal was to recognise the fact that should Vion choose to close the plant, that's not a cost-free option," Mr Swinney said. It will cost them in the order, I estimate, of between about £17m and £25m to close the plant. That's essentially a negative cost which I would rather see invested in the long-term future of the plant at Broxburn, creating a continuity of employment for members of staff. Mr Swinney said two other bidders had expressed interest in buying the plant. A spokesman for Vion said: "We greatly appreciate the serious offer of support the Scottish government has made and thank them for the significant assistance they have provided since the start of the consultation process. However, given the scale of the losses at Hall's of £79,000 per day, and the complexity and inefficient layout of the factory, we regret that we are unable to accept this support.