Ferguson Marine has appointed shipbuilding veteran Duncan Anderson as permanent Chair of its Board, following a period serving as Interim Chair, the company stated.
Anderson, a Chartered Marine Engineer with more than 40 years of experience, joined the Ferguson Marine Board as a Non-Executive Director in March 2025 before taking on the interim leadership role.
Graeme Thomson, Chief Executive Officer of Ferguson Marine, said the appointment would support the yard’s ongoing modernisation and governance reforms.
“Under Duncan’s leadership, we will continue to modernise our shipyard, improve governance and sharpen our operational delivery,” Thomson said.
He added: “I am certain that with Duncan at the helm, our Board and senior leadership team are well-positioned to secure the future of Ferguson Marine and will guide us successfully into this next chapter.”
Anderson said his priorities as permanent Chair would focus on transforming the yard into a more competitive and sustainable business. “As incoming Chair of the Board, my focus is clear; transform Ferguson Marine into a modern, efficient and profitable shipyard,” he said. He added: “I look forward to continuing to support the management team to establish its strategic direction that will enable it to compete confidently, secure new contracts and build a sustainable pipeline of work.”
Ferguson Marine described the appointment as part of wider efforts to modernise the shipyard, improve delivery performance and strengthen its ability to win new business.
Add a Table and you’ll get a Boardroom.
Seriously though, this Is excellent news.
Was an AI generated image really necessary?
That will explain why the other side of the river is missing, or it s Foggy!
It’s used a lot.
Off topic, but BBC News is today reporting Kier Starmar is now considering moving defence spending up to 3% of GDP in this parliament which could be as much as £14 billion a year in extra funding.
The treasury is said to be doing everything it can to stop it.
Yup, saw that earlier. Didn’t see anything that said the Treasury was doing everything to stop it but, It’s the most logical thing I guess.
I sense the delay to the DIP announcement might just be down to the “Smelling of Coffee” that happens when sleepy people wake up.
Currently watching a T45 doing stuff and a Wildcat, also doing stuff, It’s Funday Monday here !
I hope so. That will actually be something. It was a stated aspiration to reach that figure by the end of the decade, but a commitment to do it inside the parliament means there will have to be some real action beyond talk and the £6bn promised from Foreign Aid. The BBC says “Reaching the 3% of GDP target five years earlier than planned would be hugely expensive.” It isn’t five years earlier than planned — the 3.5% target was for 2035 — and it won’t be hugely expensive. I reckon it would mean an extra £14bn a year in 2029 terms over what had been planned by 29/30. Sir Keir had already announced 2.6% in 27/28, though 0.1% wasn’t new money. That’s not hugely expensive for what is expected to be a £3.5tr economy. Maybe they mean expensive in terms of the £4bn a year that the BBC burns through.
The real question is, how much of that £14bn will be new money, and how much folded in with existing non-defence commitments? The Treasury need to be told to keep their noses out. When forming a war cabinet, first eject the Treasury from the room.
I think all the money being described to move up to 3% will be new money. Ukraine funding is already part of the 2.3% budget, unless we are preparing to substantially increase funding to them then there is no where else for it to go.
Apparently the big hold back is finding the funds, unfortunately the last government left so much debt and a massive deficit that our traditional war chest is largely closed. The legacy of Liz Truss looms large.
I think Ed Davey suggestion of war bonds may be a way to go but finding £14 billion a year in extra debt when we are already borrowing £150 billion a year just to keep the lights on is tricky. We could remove the triple lock on pensions which would seem like the obvious place to make big savings as it’s the only budget that has never been touched and indeed had a rapid increase since 2010.
The MoD also seems to have little ability to spend such money without pissing it up the wall.
They have had to admit they underspent £500m on submarine maintenance now because they can’t physically spend the money due to lack of infrastructure.
Every munitions line, aircraft factory and shipyard is now full for years. The MoD can’t even recruit the full 73,000 soldiers it’s budgeted for.
If we increased their budget tomorrow by £14 billion per annum what would they spend it on.The Frigate line at Rosyth and the Typhoon line at Wharton are probably the only place you could put new orders in at the moment and both may fill up soon.