Cammell Laird name is back in business in Birkenhead

Nov 19 2008 by Sue McCann, Wallasey News

Cammell Laird name is back in business in Birkenhead

THE Cammell Laird name returned to its historic Birkenhead shipyard home in a move the yard’s owners say could help them win new business from around the world.

Cammell Laird, one of the best-known names in the shipbuilding world, has been absent from the Mersey since 2001 when the previous company bearing the name collapsed.

Since then, new business Northwestern Shiprepairers and Shipbuilders (NSL) has resumed work at the yard and won many major contracts, including a Ministry of Defence deal potentially worth up to £1bn over 30 years.

On Monday the business once again began trading under the name Cammell Laird Shiprepairers and Shipbuilders.

It was a proud day for the firm’s managing director, John Syvret, a former apprentice at the old Cammell Laird.

But Mr Syvret says the name change is more than just symbolic.

He said: “The reality is that, whenever we’re talking to customers, employees or suppliers, people always asked where NSL was. When we said Cammell Laird, they said ‘we know where you are’.

“It’s a massive brand and our intention is to use it to catapult the company into the international marketplace.”