Around 70 jobs are expected to be lost at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow through a voluntary redundancy scheme, the Scottish Government-owned shipyard announced today. The business currently employs 283 staff, including 34 apprentices, meaning the cuts would remove roughly a quarter of its workforce.
Legacy of the 2015 ferry contract
The historic yard, the only remaining commercial shipbuilder on the Clyde, has struggled to deliver a contract awarded in 2015 to build two large complex car ferries for Caledonian MacBrayne. The first, MV Glen Sannox, was finally delivered in November 2024, while MV Glen Rosa is due for completion by the end of this year.
The shipyard recently completed sub-contracting work for BAE Systems for new Type 26 frigates and currently has no confirmed future orders.
Union criticism of Scottish Government
Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland secretary, accused the Scottish Government of refusing to sign off contracts promised to the yard before the Holyrood election in May. She said: “Shipbuilders needs ships to build so where are those promised to Ferguson Marine? If they ever come, who will build them?
“Fergusons was once Scotland’s ferry factory with a worldwide reputation for excellence and should be again. Instead, skilled and experienced shipbuilders are being encouraged to leave as those in charge send contracts everywhere but here. The lack of support, ambition and industrial strategy is abject.”
Gilmour blamed the loss of jobs and skills at Fergusons, where a third of CalMac’s current fleet was built, on the long-standing failure to open a pipeline of work for the yard after completion of the Glen Rosa and Glen Sannox ferries. She said: “Its reputation has been battered for ten years because of two calamitous contracts decided and driven by those in charge of our ferry network.
“Their hubris and incompetence have failed a blameless workforce that deserves the chance to turn the page.”
