IRN-BRU maker AG Barr is cutting jobs at its Strathmore bottled water plant in Forfar, it was revealed this morning.

Cumbernauld-based Barr wrote down the value of its Strathmore brand and assets by £10 million in the first half after sales in the hospitality sector were hit heavily by the Covid-19 pandemic, which helped drag profits down by 62.2% to £5.1m for the six months ended July 25.

The company said: "Whilst we are seeing some recovery across hospitality, it will take time for the sector to regain momentum and as such we do not anticipate Strathmore returning to pre-COVID-19 sales levels in the foreseeable future.

"Regrettably, as a consequence we have reduced our manufacturing workforce at our Forfar site and the brand and asset valuations have been impaired." 

The company has so far not said how many redundancies will be made.

Shares surged nearly 11 per cent in early trading.