Exclusive by Margaret Taylor Business correspondent and personal finance
editor
TROUBLED engineering firm BiFab, which was bailed out by a £15 million
Scottish Government loan just months ago, is facing a fresh threat to its
survival after being hit with a multi-million pound lawsuit.
In November hundreds of BiFab workers marched on Holyrood to highlight the
risk to their jobs, prompting First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to return from
a UN climate change conference in Germany to broker a deal that saved the
firm from administration.
Now, with BiFab facing the prospect of running out of work at the end of
March, the company has been served with a Court of Session claim from
German company EEW, one of BiFab’s co-contractors on the £2.6 billion
Beatrice Offshore Windfarm.
Confirming “the ongoing legal proceedings”, a spokeswoman for EEW declined
to comment on the value of the claim.
However, it is understood that the firm is seeking several million pounds
in relation to work that both companies have carried out on Beatrice, an
84-turbine wind farm situated in the Moray Firth. EEW supplied the pipes
used in all 84 turbines, with BiFab winning a £100 million contract to
assemble 26 of them.
Alan Ritchie of the GMB union, which has been heavily involved in all
negotiations relating to BiFab’s future, said the legal action has come at
a difficult time for the firm, which could be forced to close when its work
on Beatrice comes to an end in March.
“The company appears to be confident that it can see off this claim, but a
bigger challenge to BiFab is not so much the legal claim but that the
[Beatrice] contract finishes in March and there is no other work,” he said.
“We’ve got great concerns about what is going to be done to get work into
the yards and this legal action creates another problem.
“The workers are really concerned about their future.”
BiFab employs 1,400 people across its yards in Burntisland and Methil in
Fife and Arnish on the Isle of Lewis.
Mr Ritchie said the work being done on Lewis will run out at the end of
this month, while the Fife yards only have enough work to keep going until
March.
“We’ve sent a letter to the Scottish Government because there are other
contracts coming up in the middle of the year that are all in Scotland,” Mr
Ritchie said.
“There has to be some sort of role the Scottish Government plays because
BiFab is the only yard in Scotland that has the engineering capabilities to
do those.”
According to a spokeswoman, the Government is prepared to again step in to
help BiFab secure the work it needs to remain viable when the Beatrice work
concludes.
“After helping BiFab to avoid the threat of administration, the Scottish
Government has been in regular contact with the company, investors and
relevant parties to ensure a strong, sustainable future for BiFab and the
people it employs,” she said.
“The Scottish Government and our agencies are working with the management
team at BiFab to secure new business and investment in the company, and
through this we hope to provide the best means of creating and safeguarding
jobs for the longer term for communities in both Fife and the Isle of Lewis.”
However, BiFab is unlikely to get another bailout without new work in the
pipeline, with the November rescue package tied up with the company’s work
on Beatrice.
After the Government made the £15m available it was able to secure funding
from the wind farm’s main contractor, Seaway Heavy Lifting, as well as
Beatrice part-owner SSE and BiFab’s majority shareholder JCE Group, a
Swedish business.
The deal enabled BiFab to pay its staff, who had continued to turn up for
work even when it looked like the company would not have the money
available to cover their wages.
The GMB, which last week met with representatives from Highlands and
Islands Enterprise at BiFab’s yard on Lewis, is holding talks with Fife
staff this Friday.
“We’ve got a meeting with the workforce at Burntisland on Friday to discuss
their fears over what is happening,” Mr Ritchie said.
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