My heart sings at this! Once more we will sing the Song of the Clyde! Please read this from the Greenock Telegraph, its truly inspiring and tremendous news that should wake up every true Scot and Clyde heart: THE new owner of Ferguson’s has revealed exciting plans to invest up to £60 million at the yard and create at least 300 jobs. Share this image Billionaire businessman Jim McColl says the reborn yard will bid next month for two new hybrid ferries to be built for Caledonian MacBrayne and, if successful, work could start on the first vessel as soon as next April. Mr McColl, chairman and chief executive of Clyde Blowers Capital, visited the yard yesterday to address a mass meeting of workers and unveil his blueprint for the future, after completing the takeover less than a month after the business went into administration. He is taking back the 70 workers who lost their jobs, 30 of whom returned yesterday, and bringing in naval architects and more design experts, with the historic yard set to diversify into oil, gas and offshore renewables engineering work. Orders could also be created by working with Mr McColl’s other engineering businesses to make components and parts. There should be 80 employees by the middle of November, and another 20 or 30 by early next year. Speaking to the Telegraph, Mr McColl said there is great potential for designing a new breed of ships and revealed that he also planned to create ‘an apprentice academy’. He said: “We expect a healthy demand for ships because of tightening environmental regulations. “I’m very confident we will be able to get work in here in the next month or two. “We want to be good employers for Inverclyde and bring back vitality to this shipyard, which has such a proud heritage and skilled workforce. “I hope we will be able to offer significant employment and be a good employer in the area for years to come.” Mr McColl said he was determined to create apprenticeships for young people He said: “I know there’s maybe not a lot of opportunity for them to go into engineering. “There are skills that we have here that we really need to build on and pass on to young people, and that’s good news for the future. “We’re putting a new apprenticeship programme in place. “We’ll take back the ones that were here and we’re looking to develop an in-house academy to make sure we pass on the workforce’s skills and knowledge to the next generation. “It’s a bright future for Port Glasgow. “New low sulphur regulations mean there is a big opportunity to convert or build new ships with low emissions. “We are advertising for new positions at the moment and towards the end of the year we’ll be looking for more platers, welders and the various skills that we need in the yard.” Mr McColl said he has signed missives to take over all of the land from previous owner Alan Dunnet. He praised his predecessor and said he could have received more money if he had sold the yard for something other than shipbuilding. Mr McColl said: “Mr Dunnet and his family have supported the business through challenging times, and they have always had the best interests of the yard at heart and wanted shipbuilding to continue here. “There are very few key sites like this. “I’m very keen to get in and take on more orders in the near future. “Next week we’ll look at getting the yard set up to build the type of ships necessary for the 21st century. “Clyde Blowers have a lot of expertise in making companies globally competitive, but we have a lot of work to do here to be competitive. “New work is out there. The previous owners had inquiries for three ships, but were not in a financial position to build them. “We were keen to move quickly to minimise disruption in the yard. We plan to invest £7m to £8m initially, but, theoretically, that could go up to £50m or £60m if the need is there.” The yard has already been re-named Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd. to recognise the wider variety of work it will do. Mr McColl wanted to keep the Ferguson name, describing it as ‘a valuable brand’, and he paid tribute to Ferguson’s heritage and the fact that more than 300 ships had been built there. He thanked the shop stewards for their help in the rescue package, and was flanked at a press conference by stewards Alex Logan and Billy Small. Mr Logan said the gloom surrounding the yard over the past few weeks had now been replaced by a ‘buoyant mood’. He said: “We thought the nail was in the coffin a few weeks ago for Ferguson’s Shipyard and shipbuilding on the Lower Clyde. “We’re delighted Jim McColl has taken on the company and is going to build it up to where it should be. “It’s also great that he’s committed to an apprenticeship scheme that will preserve skills for future generations. “It’s really good news for the future — when we get the ships in, the apprentices can flow back into the yard again. “It’s tremendous news for Port Glasgow.” It was confirmed yesterday that former Ferguson’s managing director, Richard Deane, is retiring from the shipbuilding business. He said: “It’s sad the company had to go down to come back again. “But I’m very pleased the right people have bought the yard, and I’m sure they’ll make a roaring success of it.”
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 14:35:00 +0000
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