Billionaire businessman Jim McColl has accused a firm controlling vast swathes of the River Clyde of blocking the development of key shipbuilding assets.
The tycoon believes Peel Ports is intentionally preventing the reindustrialisation of the huge Inchgreen Dry Dock in Greenock in order to avoid competition for yards it controls in Liverpool.
The Inverclyde facility was built with public money in the 1960s and is one of the biggest in Europe with the capability of servicing massive vessels including the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and cruise ships.
View 4 ImagesFormer shipyard owner Jim mcColl(Image: © Wattie Cheung)
But the dock has been largely unused for decades since Clyde Port Authority was privatised in 1992 and then acquired by Peel Ports in 2003.
McColl – who previously owned Greenock’s Ferguson Marine shipyard before it was nationalised by the Scottish Government – said: “When I took over the Ferguson yard it needed a lot of development and it is small so we were talking to the local council about expanding.
“I started speaking to Peel Ports about Inchgreen. It’s a fabulous facility and I thought it would be a great asset that could really help grow the business and the plans that we had.
“I had various discussions with Peel Ports at the Clyde Port Authority Buildings in Glasgow. I asked if they would sell the dry dock but really there was no interest from them in doing anything. It was clear to me that there was a strong preference not to use the dry dock.
“The Cammell Laird yard down in Liverpool was not wholly owned by Peel Ports there was another investor in there, who was the CEO of the Yard.
“And he had an agreement with Peel that he had to get the first opportunity to use Inchgreen, and that they couldn’t agree to lease it out, or for anyone else to use it. It had to be available for him if he needed it in an emergency.
“So that was his way of blocking any use of Inch Green. I went down to meet people at Cammell Laird but it was clear I was being intentionally blocked from doing the kind of work that would compete with them. It was absolutely clear it was clear as day that this was an intentional strategy.”
“You know it really annoyed me that when you come into the Clyde and you’re looking for navigation from Clyde Port Authority – you phone up and you’re put through to Newcastle.
“I think it’s terrible that control is not in Scotland and the local area. I think the port authority should be nationalised because it is a key national asset.”
View 4 ImagesThe Inchgreen Cranes being demolished by a controlled explosion in 2017.(Image: PA)
Inchgreen was originally opened in 1964 and in her early years she counted the gigantic Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth among her visitors.
The vessel was brought to Inchgreen for a refit in 1965 and was so large that a notch had to be cut into one end of the dry dock to accommodate her.
Inchgreen also played host to the world famous QE2 in 1968, when she was brought to the yard for fitting out work.
Its three cranes were demolished in 2017, in a series of controlled explosions.
The dry dock and its surrounding area is now mostly empty, save for the dry dock itself and the nearby plater’s shed, which has been upgraded in recent years.
View 4 ImagesFerguson Marine Engineering’s owner Jim McColl confirmed he wanted to take on Inchgreen in 2015(Image: Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament)
More than £11milllion has been invested into the wider Inchgreen Marine Park in recent years as part of a project which Peel has said will get the area “back to its industrial past”, but no firms have been confirmed as moving in.
McColl added: “It’s appalling that the local council and the government don’t take a tougher line on managing the assets we have on the Clyde and maximising the economic benefit for the area.
“There’s so much damage been done to the economy here by the weakness of the council. It’s really very bad.
“You need to create jobs. You’ve got to have industry, and there just seem to be a lack of common economic sense, and I just think it was appalling, this whole thing.”
McColl claimed he also attempted to take control of the plater shed but was again blocked before the facility was developed at an unnecessarily huge cost.
He said:, “I had worked with another individual who wanted to set up a facility for smaller boats there. We approached the council and were making good progress with them.
“We put together an upgrade, you know, designed to refurbish the plate of shed but all of a sudden Peel seemed to take control of the whole project.
“We had budgeted for developing the shed at it was going to cost £300,000. Someone was eventually given £1.4million and that is a scandal.
“I’ve kind of lost faith in the auditors and people like that, because there’s numerous examples of them just doing superficial job and not really getting into the understanding of what’s going on.”
A spokesman for Peel Ports said: “It’s obvious to anyone in the area who’s seen the new cranes we put in at Greenock that Peel Ports Group is investing in Inverclyde, not to mention the millions spent at Inchgreen itself in partnership with Inverclyde Council.
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“It’s in our interests to have a tenant as soon as possible and work continues to secure a viable business.”
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