Inverclyde’s long-dormant ship repair complex at Inchgreen is set for a major revival after the UK Government confirmed £20 million in fresh funding, a move local leaders say could finally anchor new defence and maritime jobs on the Clyde.
The investment, announced in the Autumn Budget, will support the redevelopment of Inchgreen Marine Park and bring the vast dry dock formally into the joint venture between Inverclyde Council and Clydeport Operations Ltd. The site has already seen significant groundwork funded through the Glasgow City Region City Deal, but today’s announcement marks the first time Westminster has explicitly tied the dry dock’s future to defence-sector use.
Councillor Stephen McCabe, leader of Inverclyde Council, called the funding a clear endorsement of the area’s ambitions. “This is a vote of confidence in the huge potential of Inverclyde,” he said, arguing that the dockyard’s regeneration has reached a stage where more substantial investment can now convert interest into jobs.
The £20m will be drawn from the UK Government’s Growth Mission Fund and aimed at expanding the site’s capability to service large vessels. Plans include new gates, pumping systems, and a modernised workforce training centre. The work is expected to complete in 2027.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves framed the commitment as part of a wider attempt to reverse years of under-investment in coastal industrial areas. In her budget speech she said, “This Labour government is backing Inverclyde because with proper investment we can deliver a renewed town, good local jobs and an economy that works for working people.”
Inverclyde MP Martin McCluskey has been pushing for the site’s revival since his election and argued that the upgrade could reposition Inchgreen as a hub for defence-linked maritime activity. “This investment will modernise the dry dock and prepare it for new highly skilled jobs in the defence and maritime sectors,” he said, adding that public-sector participation in the joint venture ensures communities have a stake in shaping the site’s long-term future.
A spokesperson for Inchgreen Marine Park told us that the plan reflects years of work with the Department for Business and Trade, the Treasury and the Ministry of Defence. They confirmed that discussions with the MoD cover potential long-term use of the refurbished dry dock for defence requirements, pending final approval.
If delivered on schedule, the regeneration could restore Inchgreen’s role as one of the Clyde’s major industrial assets, positioning it to benefit from rising defence spending and renewed demand for heavy maritime infrastructure.
This seems very reasonable, especially if it can be managed for just £20m.
Mentioned three times in the Budget document btw- the Army didn’t even get a look in.
£20m isn’t a lot of money for refurbishing something that large.
OK it is Scotland so way cheaper than London for build but even so.
I could see a new dock gate costing a large slice of that – look at the free span and therefore pressure on it – and then the pumping is going to be seriously expensive as it is such a huuuuuuuuge dock.
Yes, though the £20m figure might not be the cost of the upgrades but just what central government is contributing as a catalyst for other funding from private investment and local government?
Along the lines of what I said to Rodney, having a big dry dock with a few cranes and employees that could produce floating dry docks and other infrastructure like jack-up barges for the civilian world might be a lot cheaper than a full on ship build and refit facility. I assume it doesn’t require a nuclear license to build equipment that needs a nuclear license, if you see what I mean.
Floating dry docks might be a more convenient way of resolving our aversion to fitting the infrastructure round the ship rather than the other way round, as long as Portsmouth is deep enough and Devonport has enough space.
Why build jack up barges when there are plenty of yards in the world that can build them cheaply and well? I don’t understand why we would be doing anything other than high value segments. Otherwise you are just opening the subsidy can of worms.
A line has to be drawn somewhere between having sovereign capability and a bottomless money pit. That line is likely the FSSS. I’d be really unkeen on UK trying to get into building tankers for RFA as others, Koreans and Japanese, can do it much better and cheaper. Some things are best contracted out on a cost basis as it provides are reference point and stops the MOD budget being turned into a job creation scheme – it used to be that way when I was a young man and it was not a good look. The Royal Dockyards were places where little management was allowed or work went on please don’t think that turning the clock back to that is a good idea.
Oh my prayers have been answered HMG / MOD have finally realised that there is a massive dry dock on the Clyde with superb access to deep water and without the limitations of Rosyth.
I do wonder if this may just scupper Project Euston AFTDC (RN to acquire 2 floating Drydocks) which has been very quiet since it was announced. Alternatively it would be very handy if we were to build the New AFDs in Inchgreen drydock, and not forgetting they themselves need docking for refits / maintenance.
£20 million may just be the bargain of the Century 🤔
This sounds aimed at the carriers and MRSS rather than subs, judging by ‘large vessels’ and that £20m doesn’t sound like enough for nuclear certification.
But building floating docks and other mobile infrastructure would be a useful specialism (why did we get rid of all of them?) and if MoD orders dry up they could always shift back to the offshore energy industry.
No way would that include all the fandoogle for nuclear.
It is far more likely that the nuclear work would go to Rosyth and that work from Rosyth would be shifted to Inchgreen to make space. Rosyth used to be fully nuclear certified.
Hi SB, I’m just glad they have grabbed it with both hands and if they can get it operational in function then who knows who may be interested long term. There is absolutely a need for a large Drydock on the west coast for the QE’s and let’s face it Belfast is going to be tied up building and outfitting the FSS.
My cynical side wonders if it may be a Political move on Labours part to rub the SNPs nose in it as they have an election in 6 months.
The bigger question is whom is going to operate this site?
Someone is going to have to set up shop and have a core workforce there.
NewCo – would be an odd choice
BAES – how does this help them?
Babcock – they don’t need more dry docks except for a nuclear juggle?
Ferguson – ummm you know what I think
Navantia – why do they need to add to their collection of dry docks?
You don’t build ships in a dry dock a big flat piece of concrete preferably which a big shed on top is more useful.
Lairds, A&P? I think A&P recently consolidated on the Tyne, didn’t it? but Cammell Laird could stand another dry dock with good access. Peel might just rent it out for ad-hoc work, with no permanent shipbuilding tenant.
I can’t see it working like that.
An established workforce is needed.
I think it’s for refurbishment work. For carriers and larger RFA vessels. Regardless good news.
Only good news if there is a coherent plan. MOD urgently doesn’t need son of BSL created by the back door.
There are zero announcements of new kit but a constant drip of industrial strategy – which is clearly to appease the unions.
Jim Mccoll cited Inchgreen as a facility to invest in for building bigger commercial ships, while keeping Fergsons. I think he shed Govan too and expressed interest in providing some competition to BAE. BAE’s interest in retaining Govan, was most likely due to type 26 reduction in numbers. But had the big ship factory at Scotstoun been built with Iinchgreen, Govan and Ferguson in private hands…? Peel did not want to sell Inchgreen and I doubt Govan too. I question Peel’s interests in not letting go of these facilities. Peel are not into shipbuilding on the Clyde. It is great to see interest in this asset though. Much land to the North of the dry dock for shipbuilding and maritime marine multi ability facilities that should be looked at for that purpose rather than short term non manufacturing and non productive visions we used to see near waterfronts. The dock alone with inflation, would cost 150 million to build today and that is not including purchasing power, so double that. Some people with no vision would say fill it in. That would be yet another piece of national industrial suicide.
Well we don’t even build commercial tugs these days because we just cannot compete on price so you can forget that one. On the other hand there is a booming market for work on cruise liners and when you look at the QE’s, FSS and MRSS there are plenty of large hulls that will need facilities like Inchgreen.
FYI I don’t know if you are familiar with Inchgreen but the river Clyde is directly North of the dock, houses to the east, railway and duel carriageway to the South there is cleared land to the west.
You are being pedantic and know what I mean, next to the dry dock then. We are competitive, that age old “not or cannot compete” thought has no meaning anymore. In what Labour rates? Or is the new one now energy? SERCO has decided we don’t build tugs. Competing on price with who? And how much? It is good that at last Inchgreen is being recognised. I am sure there is a booming market in building cruise ships and cruise liners too.
The rail link to the dock area ( or at least the bridges etc) seems to have been taken down ~ 2010. it might not be too big a job to reinstate them. There also a rail way station right next to the dock
?
£20M seems barely enough to get the dry dock functional again, make the essential upgrades needed to meet modern safety and environmental requirements, and get it recertified. Definitely not enough for any major shore side infrastructure – a single heavy lift crane would cost about £20M even if purchased from China. Also no significant permanent workforce and no steady workstream to keep them busy anyway, providing a rarely used emergency docking capability for the QEC is hardly a robust business case. Getting the facility up to scratch for MRSS construction would require a much larger investment and duplicate what is being done in Belfast and has been done at Rosyth. An intention to use them for the final assembly of the Project Euston floating docks (assuming these are funded in the supposedly imminent DIP) – i.e. simply joining together large sections built elsewhere and floated in to the drydock – is the only thing that seems to make much sense.
Sorry, off topic!
Just read that the US Constellation Class has gone the same way as Zumwalt….cancelled.
Sorry again,
Missed it being reported here. D’oh!
Came here to say the same thing.
Sounds like they are doing what we all are saying here. We need mass, not gold plated. Anything gold plated only retains its advantage so long as technology doesn’t catch-up, so not long. The advantages of mass is enduring.
Hopefully the UK armed forces take note.
There needs to a separate small committee of experts to oversee and audit the best use of this seed corn funding. Its future capability needs to be dovetailed into other maritime capabilities being developed on the Clyde Basin including for the restricted Clyde Naval Base. We need to recognise the growing threats to our infrastructure posed by Russian activity at sea; the need to grow skills for our sovereign shipbuilding and repair requirements and the flexible use this great dock could be used for – naval and civilian use- forward repair etc
Please do not squander this money on non essential capabilities. The protection of the nation comes first for any Governments.
I would suggest this might have something with the growing support for Irish re-unification – it so, it is very prescient.
As much as people talk about Harland and Wolff, should Ireland re-unite, we would be a very real bind with regard the carriers – this facility might be able to handle them
Of course Govt being prescient is something Govt are renowned for… hey ho.
Inchgreen Dry Dock is one of the most undervalued industrial assets the UK has, and it’s encouraging to see more people recognising its potential at last. The idea that we “can’t compete” on commercial shipbuilding doesn’t really hold up anymore; labour isn’t the decisive factor it once was, and global conditions have shifted enough that having secure, domestic manufacturing capacity is becoming a major advantage rather than a cost burden. Energy, supply chain reliability, carbon costs and strategic resilience all now play a bigger role than chasing the cheapest yard on the planet.
The dry dock itself would cost hundreds of millions to build today when you factor in inflation, materials and the land footprint. To fill it in or sideline it would be another example of the short-term thinking that has damaged UK shipbuilding for decades. There’s plenty of surrounding land with huge potential too. The Clyde is directly north of the dock, there’s cleared land to the west, transport links are already there, and even the old rail access could be reinstated without much difficulty. These are the fundamentals most modern yards need but rarely get.
People also underestimate how much market opportunity exists. It’s not just tugs: offshore wind vessels, ferries, cable layers, support ships, cruise ship refits and future naval programmes all require large hull space and heavy engineering capability. Inchgreen is perfectly positioned for that kind of mixed commercial and defence workload. If anything, the UK’s lack of capacity is the limiting factor, not a lack of demand.
There was a moment years ago when McColl recognised the potential of tying Inchgreen, Govan and Ferguson into a more competitive Clyde cluster. Had that been allowed to develop, we might have had a real alternative to relying on one or two bottlenecked sites. Peel’s long-term reluctance to release control of Inchgreen didn’t help, and they’ve never shown much interest in maritime manufacturing, which has slowed things down unnecessarily.
With proper investment and a clear industrial plan, Inchgreen could anchor a modern shipbuilding and marine engineering hub on the Clyde. It’s the kind of facility that could support everything from commercial construction to cruise ship work to naval refit. For once, it would be good to see the UK treat an asset like this as the long-term strategic opportunity it is, rather than another waterfront plot for non-productive uses.