Cammell Laird name is sold

Aug 9 2006 Wirral News

THE final nail in the coffin of the Cammell Laird shipyard has been struck with the announcement this week of the sale of the name and trademark.

KPMG, administrator to the shipbuilder's holding company since 2001, has placed an advert for would-be buyers to snap up the legendary name.

The notice said: "The opportunity to acquire the trade name and trademark of one of the most famous British shipbuilders would be of particular interest to those operating in the fields of shipbuilding, ship repair and conversion."

Former workers at the site have reacted with sadness to the latest development.

Local historian Pat Moran, who worked at the site intermittently as a shipwright in the 1950s and 1960s, said: "Cammell Lairdwas one of the greatest shipyards in the world.

"The sale marks the sweeping away of one of the last great industrial names on Merseyside and of the old shipbuilding tradition."

Founded in 1824 at the Birkenhead Iron Works on the Mersey, the yard built many famous vessels, including HMS ArkRoyal and the Windsor Castle in 1960, the largest liner ever built in England at the time.

Employing thousands at its peak, the yard was hit by cheaper foreign shipbuilders and sank into receivership in 2001 when a £50m contract was cancelled.

The historic engine shop at Cammell Laird, where dozens of world-famous ships were built, was demolished last month.

Bulldozers knocked it to the ground to make wayfor a multi-million pound retail, leisure and residential waterfront development on the 110-acre site.

Reddington Finance, the business consortium which owns the site, intends to re-claim land from the Mersey and use it for a cultural centre. A stretch of the waterfront has also been earmarked for a man-made beach.

Reddington estimates the plans for the yard to be worth more than £1bn and says it has backing from investors in Dubai.