Ferguson leases giant warehouse in Greenock as Mccoll splits with directors
THE nationalised Ferguson shipyard in Port Glasgow has revealed it has leased a commercial property from former Rangers directors James and Sandy Easdale. The news came as it emerged that senior figures of the yard’s former owner, Clyde Blowers Capital, have parted company with boss Jim Mccoll.
Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow), the company which has been running the yard since it formally moved into public ownership in
December, has signed a four-year lease on 77,000 square foot of industrial and manufacturing space in nearby Greenock.
Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) has leased the property from Dalglen Investments, whose directors include Sandy and James Easdale. The Easdale brothers own bus firm Mcgill’s.
The warehouse, one of the largest commercial properties in the Inverclyde town, will be used by the shipyard to consolidate inventory held in several warehouses near Glasgow Airport, and to implement upgraded stock control processes.
No further details were provided on the financial commitments involved in leasing the premises, which are located 2.7 miles from Ferguson Marine’s existing operations at Port Glasgow.
The Ferguson yard, which had been owned by a fund of Clyde Blowers Capital, was nationalised by the Scottish Government after it fell into administration in August. That came after a bitter row between Mr Mccoll and Caledonian Maritime Assets (CMAL), the state-owned ferry company, over costs and delays on the building of two dual-fuel ferries for the Calmac network. The initial contract was worth £97 million but is now expected to cost at least double that amount.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that three former directors of Mr Mccoll’s Clyde Blowers Capital have left the East Kilbride-based investment firm to set up on their own. Allan Dowie, group chief financial officer at Clyde Blowers from 2013 to 2020, has been joined at Glasgow-based MDP Capital by Keith Mitchell and Shauna Powell.
Mr Mitchell was a partner at Clyde Blowers Capital from 2005 to 2020, while Ms Powell was group legal director from 2006 to 2011, then partner from 2011 to 2020.
The website for MDP Capital lists its portfolio companies as Allrig, David Brown Santasalo, Keto Global Pump Solutions, Moventas and Parsons Peebles. Clyde Blowers Capital had invested in those companies.