SOME 70 jobs, mainly in engineering and manufacturing, have been saved at family-owned McGeoch Marine, after creditors overwhelmingly approved a rare Scottish Company Voluntary Arrangement.
Founded in 1903, the Inchinnan-based manufacturer of marine and other specialist doors went into administration in October after over-reaching itself in China. The CVA provides for creditors to receive in excess of 50p in the pound over a four-year period.
Rob Caven, joint administrator and advisory partner at Grant Thornton, said: "The UK business of McGeoch Marine was and remains fundamentally strong. However, the overseas expansion undertaken in recent years had placed a considerable financial burden on the company. Through a process of restructuring and reorganisation we were able to secure the future UK business profits and cash flows for the benefit of all stakeholders in the CVA. The overseas operations will continue, but they are no longer allowed to be a cash drain on the company."
The company, originally a marine hardware supplier to the Clyde shipyards, has interests in Singapore, Australia, and notably Suzhou, China, where it invested in a manufacturing facility for offshore accommodation modules, containers and baskets.
George Gray, director of McGeoch Marine, said: "It is a better outcome for all those concerned. The CVA will allow the company to continue to trade and save the jobs that may have otherwise been lost, and creditors will receive substantially more money than had the business and assets been sold out of administration."
Mr Caven said CVAs in Scotland were uncommon. "They can be perceived to require a lot of effort and need to have the support from all major stakeholders. The company also needs to be able to trade while the CVA proposal is being constructed and put to creditors, and there should be a core business capable of generating future cash flow and profits. There also needs to be a means to fund payments to creditors proposed in the CVA from future profits and /or a cash injection from an investor."
McGeoch Marine has delivered on contracts such as the supply of doors for the next generation of UK aircraft carriers, which will now continue into 2013.
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