Belfast company Harland & Wolff who built Titanic is set to collapse into administration

Between 50 and 60 jobs are to be lost immediately but insists a there is a “credible pathway to recovery” through a new owner taking over the business.

Harland and Wolff has four shipyards – one in Belfast, two in Scotland (Methil on the Firth of Forth and Arnish on the Isle of Lewis) and one in England (Appledore in north Devon).

The union representing most members at two of the sites said its preferred option is a single buyer with a history of shipbuilding, rather than a private equity firm looking for a short-term profit.

“Workers, their families and whole communities now face their lives being thrown into chaos due to chronic failures in industrial strategy and corporate mismanagement,” the GMB union said.

“The group faces a very challenging time”, Harland and Wolff’s interim executive chair Russell Downs said.

“Good progress has been made to test the market for investor appetite, but this is likely to be via acquisition thereby reluctantly concluding that the plc listed vehicle’s own future will shortly come to an end.”

Harland & Wolff employs more than 1,500 people across its operations, including the main yard in Belfast. Its shipyards were saved from closure in 2019 when it was bought out of administration for £6m by energy infrastructure firm InfraStrata.

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