UK Defence Forum

Appedore shipyard about to reopen !! If there is any truth in this then it is very good news.

https://www.gmb.org.uk/news/gmb-welcome ... e-shipyard

If "summit" is the right term, who else was there?
"It follows a Number 10 summit today with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Attorney General and local MP Geoffrey Cox on the future of the yard."

jonas wrote:Appedore shipyard about to reopen !! If there is any truth in this then it is very good news.

https://www.gmb.org.uk/news/gmb-welcome ... e-shipyard

If true (and remember Babcocks words about Ferguson and Harland and Wolff not being guaranteed any work) this makes an awful lot of sense for Babcock. They're obviously not able to build T31e here, just blocks. Conversely its not good news for Ferguson Marine and H & W. Why on earth would Babcock place any block work with them when they have Rosyth, Appledore and a working ship yard like Cammell Laird to contract work with?

It's also good news for warship building outside of Scotland...

One shipyard for sale, open to offers...

https://property.jll.co.uk/sale-industr ... -1uz-15418

Surprised it's still for sale given that Babcock won the T31 bid, would have thought that they could keep it going with blocks from the T31. Perhaps some of the jobs will move up to Scotland to work on the T31 up there instead?

It is not owned by Babcock. They just leased the site.

Ok, thanks

Aethulwulf wrote:One shipyard for sale, open to offers...

https://property.jll.co.uk/sale-industr ... -1uz-15418

Can you give any date as to when this 'for sale' advert was placed, I've looked but cannot seem to find one. It would appear that it was placed in March 2019, so is it still on the market. In fact having just looked at the vendors list of properties I can find no trace of appledore shipyard on their commercial books.

The site was put on the market back in March. Actually it is for lease, rather than for sale.

https://www.maritimejournal.com/news101 ... the-market

Aethulwulf wrote:The site was put on the market back in March. Actually it is for lease, rather than for sale.

https://www.maritimejournal.com/news101 ... the-market

Exactly, so it could at the moment be easily leased back by Babcocks. Deals a good un. Though as I said there is nothing I can see on JLL's site currently refering to this property. So perhaps behing the scene talks have/are already taking place in regards to this.

A. I already posted a link to the details on the JLL web site https://property.jll.co.uk/sale-industr ... -1uz-15418

B. Just because the site is up for lease rather than sale does not mean Babcock are going to more interested in the site.

Babcock have already announced plans to invest £50m in Rosyth, and they will have the capacity for 100% of the T31 construction at Rosyth.

While possible, I think it is highly unlikely they will go back on their decision of less than 1 year ago and now take up a new lease on Appledore.

Well it would appear that it is up for sale and not for lease :

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-ne ... ld-3406889

https://www.business-live.co.uk/manufac ... d-18607436

More rumours that Appledore is about to reopen soon...

I met a gentleman who claimed to work for a company involved in trying to open up the shipyard in January. According to him, the deal was imminent.....I guess Covid delayed things, but hopefully it's finally going to happen

dmereifield wrote:https://www.business-live.co.uk/manufac ... d-18607436

More rumours that Appledore is about to reopen soon...

I met a gentleman who claimed to work for a company involved in trying to open up the shipyard in January. According to him, the deal was imminent.....I guess Covid delayed things, but hopefully it's finally going to happen

I find it hard to believe the unions played any constructive part in its potential opening. British shipyard unions are firmly in the "con" column when investing.

I personally wouldn't touch a unionized British yard with a 20 foot pole. Too many scare stories.

As evidenced by the union guys quote blaming the Tories for not placing enough orders instead of accepting some blame for his own memberships appalling productivity and quality being the prime reasons for lack of commercial orders. All with Scottish surnames I notice. Araldite in one hand, beer in the other.

Appledore Shipyard to reopen after £7m InfraStrata deal

A longstanding shipbuilders in north Devon is to reopen after being bought in a £7m deal.

Appledore Shipyard closed in March 2019 after owners Babcock said its future was not "secure", despite the offer of a £60m Ministry of Defence contract.

The site's new owners InfraStrata said the yard's ability to cater for smaller vessels was "a market segment that cannot be ignored".

Unions have welcomed the deal and urged the government to give the yard orders.

The yard will now be operated under the name Harland and Wolff (Appledore), after the much larger Belfast site the same owner bought in December last year.

Read More: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-53903667

“They are proper shipbuilders – Babcock were not. The chief executive told me ‘Geoffrey we’re not ship builders’.

“These owners are and this is the beginning of a new era for Appledore shipyard.”

Bodes well for the T31.

https://www.northdevongazette.co.uk/new ... -1-6808078

InfraStrata have never built a ship. Just saying.

RichardIC wrote:InfraStrata have never built a ship. Just saying.

Agree, but strange comment about Babcock given the hope that the T31 will be the start of the rejuvenation of the UK shipbuilding sector.

is the suggestion that the batch 2 T31 (if any) will be built at appledore? even if Scotland does not go for independence, which I think could be a good idea, but then what happens to Rosyth?

or maybe segments for the FSS or MCM replacements?

RichardIC wrote:InfraStrata have never built a ship. Just saying.

Neither has Babcock's.

Up to 350 jobs to be created at Appledore, apparently....

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.devonl ... 482103.amp

Ron5 wrote:

RichardIC wrote:InfraStrata have never built a ship. Just saying.

Neither has Babcock's.

But if both yards have kept 70% of the works force then they have built ships in the case of Babcock Appledore 4 90m Samuel Beckett class OPV's on time and on budget. So yes Babcock and a number of the work force at Appledore have built low end navel ships

Don't know why you think Appledore still retains 70 per cent of its pre-closure workforce. According to the North Devon Gazette article posted by Repulse on Aug 29 the workforce there now is one (1), the site manager.

According to infrastrata's last annual report their entire workforce - including all those at Harland & Wolff - is well under 100.

When a manufacturing facility closes the skilled element of the workforce tend not to hang around waiting for it to reopen.

You are right however there will be a number of people who live in the area who have the skill set needed the main point is that no this new firm has not built a ship but a good number of the people they employ would have.

The challenge here is to somehow choreograph securing contracts with building a workforce.

They need orders to raise capital, but it will need to be really well co-ordinated.

When Johnson, who has a very shaky relationship with facts, visited on Aug 25 he said: “There are potential contracts, and for reasons of commercial confidentiality and because of the procurement process I can’t go into the things that I would like to see, but I am hopeful.

“I think it’s important not to over promise but I do genuinely think there’s a potential fantastic future here. If we can get things moving fast enough."

I honestly wish them well - InfraStrata/Appledore that is.