Scotland鈥檚 economy secretary Fiona Hyslop said yesterday that the Scottish government will work with the administrators and trade unions to secure a new future for the BiFab yards in Fife and the Western Isles.
鈥淚 know this will be an extremely worrying time for BiFab鈥檚 workers and we will continue to do everything in our power to support them and stand ready to work with any company interesting in taking on the yards,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he skills and dedication of the workforce is recognised throughout the renewables and offshore industry and will play an important role in our future energy ambitions.
鈥淭he Scottish government has been working for more than three years to support BiFab through the financial difficulties it has faced and remains committed to securing a future for the yards and the workforce.
鈥淎s a minority shareholder, we have been exhaustive in our consideration of the options available to us to support BiFab. There is no legal route for either the Scottish government or the UK government to provide further financial support to the company as things stand.
鈥淚n order to successfully secure and deliver new contracts, BiFab required working capital, the provision of appropriate assurance packages by the shareholders, and plans for investment at the sites. Despite commitments made at the time of acquisition, this is something the majority shareholder JV Driver was not willing to provide to secure future work.
鈥淲e will now work with the administrators and trade unions to secure a new future for the BiFab yards in Fife and the Western Isles, helping ensure they are able to diversify and compete in this competitive market.
鈥淲e have also committed to establish a joint working group with the UK government to explore how existing policy measures can be used to strengthen the renewables and clean energy supply chain in Scotland. We continue to call on the UK government to take more radical action to ensure that local renewables developments move away from a focus solely on price and better support the domestic supply chain.鈥�
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