Glasgow And Ships Of The Clyde

Harbour Buys Ardrossan Dockyard

From: Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald dated Friday 10th April 1970

HARBOUR BUYS ARDROSSAN DOCKYARD

Confirmation of the sale of Ardrossan Dockyard to the Clyde Port Authority is contained in a statement issued yesterday (Thursday) by the owner of Ardrossan Dockyard Ltd., Mr A.D. Kelly.

Involved in the sale are the dry-dock and fitting-out basin, together with all the surrounding land. The deal took place last December to allow urgent development for the new Arran ferry to take place but has only now been publicly revealed.

A considerable sum of money was involved, although the amount has not been revealed.

Since the deal was completed the yard has been gradually running down and nearly all the former employees have now found other jobs.

The remaining assets of the company are to be disposed of by auction and are expected to realise a substantial amount.

Key Site

A company spokesman said that despite the sums of money involved reference to the company?s balance sheets over recent years would verify that the principal reasons for selling were not financial. He stated that for some year snow Mr Kelly had recognised that the site of the yard was a key one in the development of the deep-water facilities of the Clyde and when he was approached by the Clyde Port Authority concerning their proposed development at Ardrossan he resolved, after serious consideration, that it would be in the best interests of the Clyde and of the port of Ardrossan in particular to make the site available.

The deal is conditional upon the dry and wet docks being filled in and certain rights regarding ship repairing have been reserved to the Ardrossan Dockyard Co. Ltd.

Mr Kelly took over the dockyard some eight years ago when it was in danger of closing down and in the intervening years has succeeded in building it into a very profitable ship-repairing business which some two years ago acquired as its subsidiary company the much larger Liffey Dockyard in Dublin, which has also returned some very encouraging results in that time.

The Ardrossan company recently made a bid for the Ailsa Shipbuilding Co. Ltd at Troon and although this was not successful it is understood that Mr Kelly is interested in acquiring further ship-repairing interests either on the Clyde or elsewhere in the British Isles or abroad.

Scribe Tango