‘Strong case’ to keep yards together

The executive chairman of Harland and Wolff has said there is a strong case for keeping the company’s four shipyards under a single owner.

The main yard is in Belfast, where famously the Titanic was built, with other operations at Appledore in England and Methil and Arnish in Scotland.

They are all for sale as the company battles a financial crisis.

On Monday, it was confirmed that the Harland and Wolff holding company will go into administration.

The operating companies, which run the yards, are expected to continue trading as new owners are sought.

Russell Downs, a restructuring expert, was appointed executive chairman in July after the company’s chief executive John Wood stood down.

Mr Downs has tasked Rothschild bank with finding a buyer or buyers and hopes to conclude that process by the end of October.

He told the BBC’s Today programme that keeping the yards together was “sensible from an operating perspective” but he can’t prejudge what bidders will want.

“Some yards may be owned by one owner with other yards owned by another, so we’ll just have to see where the process gets to,” he said.

Spain’s state-owned shipbuilder Navantia is understood to have expressed an interest in the Belfast yard.

It is the main contractor on a project to build three support ships for the Royal Navy with Harland and Wolff as subcontractor.

Mr Downs said: “We have a number of interested parties and some of them are looking for the business as a whole, including our gas storage facility just outside Belfast.

“Others are more specific about what they’re interested in. We’ll just have to see what the offers come in at and make a decision at that point,” he added.

Belfast East MP Gavin Robinson described the situation as “frustrating”, but added the “mood music as good” around the interest in Harland and Wolff.

“The Belfast yard, and the achievement in securing a MoD (Ministry of Defence) contract worth £1.6 billion to build fleet support ships is the asset, it is the thing that is creating the interest in the sales process.

“I don’t think the willingness to see a positive outcome for this is misplaced.

“But that doesn’t give immediate confidence to those who need paychecks week-to-week and month-to-month,” he added.

Harland and Wolff has been heavily loss-making since it was bought out of administration five years ago.

The company sought a £200m government loan guarantee to refinance its borrowings but that was rejected for being too risky for taxpayers.

On Monday, a government spokesperson said that it was a concerning time for those affected, but added that Harland and Wolff has been clear that the administration process will not “affect jobs at its shipyards or core operations”.

They added: “We are clear that following a thorough review of the company’s financial situation, at present the market is best-placed to address these challenges and providing government funding would have meant a significant risk of losing taxpayer money.”