Scottish shipbuilder planning major transformation and expansion

The company has issued a tender for ground investigation work to explore the feasibility of transforming the site, stating that FMPG "requires ground Investigation work ahead of potential yard transformation works."

Plans include a new fabrication shed, potentially up to 100 metres long and 40 metres wide, with three floor pits up to 1.9 metres deep.

The tender, published at the end of April with a deadline of May 27, marks the first phase of a broader strategy that could see significant expansion and modernisation.

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The limited space available at the yard's Newark site has long been seen as a major potential obstacle to the company's future expansion, and FMPG is considering expanding into the Inchgreen facility, located about a mile from the current yard, as well as other nearby areas.

The current yard presents certain issues, including the fact that Port Glasgow's fire station sits next to it and cannot be relocated. FMPG has said that land in front of the yard could support additional industrial development.

Another tender states that the organisation has established an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) transformation programme, which it has named 'Project Keelson' - essentially a wholesale refit of how an organisation runs its back office, from payroll and HR to finance, procurement and reporting, by replacing a patchwork of ageing systems with one integrated platform.

Scotland’s publicly owned shipyard Ferguson Marine (Image: Colin Mearns)

In the tender, this one was submitted on May 4 with a mid-June deadline. FMPG states that "this procurement exercise aims to replace or acquire net new systems" across several areas.

One area is dubbed "engineer-to-ored" and details a system which would provide "end-to-end lifecycle covering estimating, design, engineering, planning, manufacturing, production, and as-built handover."

Another is core finance, where they are looking for a system to record-to-report, project financial management, purchase-to-pay, order-to-cash, fixed assets, payments and banking, employee expenses, and FP&A.

Procurement and inventory systems are also sought to handle contract management, sourcing, stock control, supply chain, and warehouse management.

Also on the tender shopping list are systems for "core HR", including recruitment and performance management, as well as time and attendance management.

Finally, payroll is asked to be brought in-house and integrated with finance systems, supporting employee self-service.

FMPG said in the tender: "This programme is critical to reducing our reliance on manual and disconnected processes and establishing a modern, scalable digital foundation to support our future growth."

Fabrication quality inspector David Watt alongside the Glen Rosa during an inspection at Dales Marine, Greenock. (Image: PA)

A separate third tender, published on April 28, with a month-long deadline, is open to award a contract for the provision of Occupational Health Services.

The moves come after Graeme Thomson, chief executive of Ferguson Marine, discussed the proposed expansion earlier this year at Holyrood’s net zero, energy and transport committee.

He said: "You are correct that the yard will run out of space at some point.

"In the journey that we are starting on, we will look at how to optimise space so there is a proper production flow that makes best use of it."

Thomson said the company was reviewing how to maximise use of its current footprint, but added that its ambitions reach beyond existing boundaries.

He said: "I have been clear since I have been in the job that I hope that Port Glasgow will not be big enough in five years."

Adding that there is ongoing dialogue with Inverclyde Council about these options and that the goal is "to get to the point at which we are creating a good solid commercial shipbuilding industry in Inverclyde again."

Graeme Thomson became CEO of Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Ltd in May 2025 (Image: Colin Mearns)

We reported last month that John Swinney has insisted Ferguson Marine has a “secure future” despite the yard being frozen out of bidding to build a replacement for the MV Lord of the Isles contract because of delays in getting the botched Glen Rosa into the water.

Bidding was not allowed because it did not meet the eligibility criteria set by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL).

MV Lord of the Isles (Image: (Image: Contributed))

The Scottish Government agency’s prequalification process requires bidders to demonstrate they have delivered at least two vessels longer than 75 metres in the past five years.

However, this does not include ships still under construction.

Ferguson Marine delivered the MV Glen Sannox in November 2024, but its sister vessel, the MV Glen Rosa, is not due for completion until later this year, despite having been ordered in 2015.