The Madrid artisan company La Virgen Beers announced this Monday the start of a procedure for collective dismissal of all its workers with the objective of definitively ceasing their activity. This decision has come, according to the company itself, after failing to reach an agreement to locate the headquarters of its facilities in the town of Las Rozas.
La Virgen already communicated at the end of last year that the municipal authorities had notified them that they had to close the factory located in the Európolis industrial estate in Las Rozas, then momentarily paralyzing the direct and online sale of their products, but, as can still be read on their website today, they hoped it was a temporary decision.
However, after months of negotiations, the company has not been able to reach an agreement to obtain the activity permits required by the City Council. “We have faced a complex situation in obtaining permits for the company’s flagship location in Las Rozas,” the company stated. “This fact, in combination with the difficult financial situation existing, has led Cervezas La Virgen to make this difficult decision.”
Thus, The Virgin will begin the process of dismissal of its 78 workers “with the utmost respect”, through negotiation with the unions to reach an agreement that “minimizes the social impact” of the same on the entire workforce.
Although the company has assured that its different bars will remain open during this procedure, the ultimate goal will be the total cessation of the company, which implies the closure of its beer manufacturing facilities, the taproom and the six premises that until now it had distributed between Madrid capital, Majadahonda and Alcorcón.
Cervezas La Virgen was born as an idea between friends who worked together in San Francisco (USA) in 2009. Only two years later, they founded the company back in Spain, opening the first brewpub and producing 48,000 liters of beer. In 2015 a new factory opened in Las Rozaswith the capacity to market 400,000 liters per year, soon reaching one million liters per year.
Since then, the project had only grown, increasing its catalog of craft beers, allying itself with other projects such as La Virgen 154 with Kitchen 154, distributing its products in supermarkets and opening its own bars.
Images | La Virgen Beers
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