THE PUBLICLY-owned shipyard at the centre of a ferries fiasco has been criticised after not considering a single female candidate for its £205,000 CEO position – despite speaking to almost 50 men for the role.
In December, Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) named David Tydeman as its new chief executive officer (CEO) to lead the business to "sustainable growth".
It can now be revealed that Mr Tydeman has negotiated a £205,000 annual salary and an eye-watering 40 per cent bonus – bringing his potential annual earnings to £287,000.
Scottish Government correspondence has revealed that the quest to find a new CEO for the company was “far-reaching, broad and deep in terms of numbers of individuals identified and approached”.
READ MORE: Troubled Government-owned shipyard Ferguson Marine appoints new boss
Recruitment consultant Odgers Berndtson was hired to help find a suitable new chief for the company with the “starting point” for the annual bonus set at 30%.
Documents show that “of the 48 people approached, all were male and none were female”.
The papers adds that “this is an unfortunate reality of the shipbuilding sector”, adding that “those with the relevant skillset and experience are overwhelmingly men”.
A total of 48 men were approached under non-disclosure agreements, with “34 returning signed NDAs and were briefed on the role”.
READ MORE: Gender pay gap increased in Scotland last year
Nine candidates were then interviewed and assessed by Odgers Berndtson before two candidates were then put forward for interview by a panel, including the Ferguson Marine chairman.
Documents stress that “since the Scottish Government took control of the yard” in August 2019, “the diversity of the senior management team has improved, with several high-level posts now being filled by women”.
As of April 2021, only 3.44% of employees at Ferguson Marine were women.
There is only one woman on Ferguson Marine’s board of directors with Alison Mitchell joined by seven men.
Scottish Conservative MSP for the West of Scotland, Pam Gosal, said: “It appears that the process of recruiting a new chief exec at Ferguson was about as progressive as their shipbuilding capacity under SNP control.
“The search was clearly not as far-reaching as the government claim, when it failed to identify a single female candidate despite there being women already in senior roles in the shipyard.
“It is unacceptable if outdated attitudes influenced the candidate selection process.”
Ferguson Marine turnaround director, Tim Hair, who has led the business since August 2019 and implemented a major transformation programme, is due to depart the company this month.
Mr Hair is earning up to £60,000-a-month to run the enterprise for the Scottish Government.
Mr Tydeman was due to take over on February 1 and is tasked with delivering two ferries that made a £100 million loss in the months after it came under public ownership.
READ MORE: Concerns over viability of delayed Ferguson Marine ferries as key features left off
The two ferries are already over four years behind schedule and twice over budget.
A spokesperson for the board at Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) said: “A comprehensive remuneration benchmarking exercise was conducted by Odgers Berndtson and the salary and benefits package falls well within the range of what other executives in similar roles receive.
“Ferguson Marine operates in a global market. To be a sustainable business, supporting more than 400 jobs and a local supply chain, we must be capable of competing at an international level with shipyards around the world. Therefore, it is vital that we offered an attractive remuneration package to secure a high quality candidate. The bonus is performance-related and is dependent on the successful achievement of business goals.”
She added: “We conducted an international search for the CEO role, covering maritime and shipping sectors, as well as engineering, oil and gas, automotive, defence and manufacturing. These are sectors that continue to be overwhelmingly male.
“While there was an all-male pool of candidates for the CEO role, we are proud to have a 50/50 gender split on our senior management team, with females appointed to the permanent roles of operations director, engineering director and HR director, as well as a female interim head of procurement.”
A Scottish Government Spokesperson said: “Matters of recruitment and pay are the responsibility of Ferguson Marine.”
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