Just found this on another board. Makes pretty grim reading, especially in the context of hopes that Cammell may be used for construction of FSS (reminder, Harland and Wolff Belfast, the only realistic alternative, has a workforce of under 200 - so possibly not a realistic alternative at all).
UK polar research ship nearly sank Cammell Laird.
https://www.ft.com/content/a48d1515-066 ... b435e15ba7
The polar research ship the UK public wanted to name Boaty McBoatface blew a serious hole in the finances of British shipbuilder Cammell Laird, forcing it to seek emergency shareholder support.
The Birkenhead yard ran up £37.4m of losses on the £200m contract to build the ship, which was eventually named the Sir David Attenborough, and had to be rescued by its shareholders, accounts published at the end of December reveal. It also took a £15.8m impairment charge.
Peel Group, the property and investment group owned by John Whittaker, and DWS, the asset management arm of Deutsche Bank, invested an undisclosed amount in 2019 that prevented the 200-year-old company running aground.
The 15,000 tonne British Antarctic Survey ship was a bespoke vessel and the biggest built in Birkenhead since 1992. It was launched in 2019, two years late, and management admitted it was a bigger than expected challenge.
“We have learned some lessons. It was a very complex project,” Mark Whitworth, a Cammell Laird director, told the Financial Times.
The accounts for the year ended March 31 2019 show that shareholders had to put in “substantial additional funds” because of “significant cash flow pressures”. There was a net £13.7m cash outflow, leaving £3.6m in the bank.
The group’s auditors signed off the business as a going concern only after “taking account of the ongoing support confirmed by the company’s owner”.
Cammell Laird made a pre-tax loss of £35.6m, up from £897,000 the year before while turnover fell to £88.6m from £154.2m.
Mr Whitworth said it had taken the impairment charge as it would only take on such a project in future as part of a consortium where a bigger company could take the pricing risk.
The government wanted to boost the British shipbuilding industry by using a UK yard and captured attention with an online public poll to name the vessel. The name Boaty McBoatface topped the poll but was rejected and used for an unmanned submarine it carries instead.
The 128m vessel is capable of breaking through ice 1m thick and has a crew of 30, laboratories and accommodation for up to 60 scientists and support staff.
Cammell Laird, founded in the 1820s, closed in 1993 but was revived as a repair business in the following years. John Syvret, its owner, brought back the Cammell Laird name in 2007 and it began building small vessels, as well as a section of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.
Mr Syvret was executive chairman and owned 25 per cent. Peel and DWS bought him out in July and he left the company. They drafted in David McGinley, who runs shipbuilder A&P, which is part of the same group, as chief executive.
Mr Whitworth, who is chief executive of Peel Ports, said the shareholders now had oversight of the management and Laird had a “strong pipeline of business”. It was not intending redundancies among the 900-strong workforce, he said. “We are very keen to support the business because of its long term potential.”
It is bidding for a £1bn contract to build at least two naval support ships for the UK, in a consortium with BAE Systems, Babcock International and Rolls-Royce, and for five Type 31e frigates. It has a 10-year contract to service other naval support ships, and work on nuclear submarines and frigates.
The sale of Laird was part of the deal when Australian Super, a pension fund, invested in Peel Ports in February. It took a 25 per cent stake, leaving Peel with 37.6 per cent and DWS with 37.4 per cent.