Navantia investment goes to “the right places”

The ribbon-cutting ceremony marked completion of a £1.5 million development which will create a new production office and also greatly improved facilties for the workforce with new changing and canteen facilities for up to 250 people.

This is the first part of an overall £7m investment programme that Navantia, the Spanish state-owned parent company, has sanctioned for the Arnish facility in 2026 – a huge vote of confidence in a yard which faced an uncertain future just two years ago.

Work has already begun on the next phase, which will create a state-of-the-art skill centre where existing employees will be able to upgrade their skills in specialist welding and pipefitting while apprentices will supplement the training they receive at UHI in Lews Castle College.

Albert Allan, general manager at Arnish, said that the foundations have been laid for the skill centre and “the steelwork will start going up next week”. The workforce at Arnish now stands at around 150 including 35 apprentices.

Mr Allan said the Navantia CEO had been “very happy with what he saw” and that Mr Martinez joined a “town hall” session at which the whole workforce was present and able to ask questions and hear about prospects for the yard.

Having completed two major orders recently, the company is about to start work on 1100 tonnes of barge blocks which will take the existing workforce through to the second quarter of next year. Mr Allan is confident there are other orders in the pipeline.

HIE have supported the latest investment and the chairman, Angus Campbell, told the Gazette: “It was really good to see the money going in the right places, to benefit the staff and invest in training and new machinery which will make the yard more competitive. These are also the right priorities for the local community”.

He said the takeover of Arnish by Navantia had been “one of the great success stories of recent years”.