150 jobs axed at Babcock shipyard

BABCoCk’S boss bemoaned a ‘nightmare’ few months as 150 staff were axed at its shipyard in Scotland.

Archie Bethel said the military contractor’s share price has been hammered by fears about the effect of the Uk leaving the EU and concerns for the support services sector since the collapse of Carillion last year.

The firm is making the redundancies at its Rosyth site in Fife as it nears the end of its building work on the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carriers. Union Unite said it was a ‘kick in the teeth’.

Bethel, 66, said: ‘We’ve had a nightmare six months. Not in performance or trading – that’s been fine.

‘The past couple of years have been tough because we’ve seen a lot of the American [investor] side not move out but sell down, which was Brexit related, Corbyn related, sector related.’

Shares have fallen by around a quarter since Carillion went into administration, from more than 740p to 526.4p.