Navantia UK says investment at its Methil yard has reached £26.7 million as the Fife site is modernised for naval construction and a growing portfolio of defence work.
Navantia UK has invested £26.7 million in its Methil yard in Fife as the company prepares the site for future defence contracts, sovereign shipbuilding and naval construction, according to the company.
The scale of the work was outlined during a visit by Rear Admiral Matthew Stratton, Director Naval Acquisition, who toured the yard and met members of its expanding workforce. According to a Navantia UK news update, the modernisation programme includes new welfare and office facilities, self-propelled modular transporters, plasma cutting equipment, lifting systems and other infrastructure intended to increase the range of work the site can undertake.
A new covered Rubb building is also under construction at Methil. The facility will provide additional space for blasting, coating and finishing work, allowing those activities to continue throughout the year in a controlled environment rather than being constrained by external conditions.
Navantia recently committed a further £12 million to the yard for training facilities, machinery, infrastructure and new technology, taking investment since the company acquired Methil in January 2025 to £26.7 million. The spending forms part of a wider £157 million programme to modernise Navantia UK’s four British yards following its acquisition of the former Harland & Wolff facilities.
Donato Martínez, Chief Executive of Navantia UK, said, as quoted in a news update: “We’re very proud of the investment that has gone into our Methil yard, preparing it to take on contracts of significant shape and size to support the armed forces. The site is strategically important for Scotland and for the UK as a whole and we’re bringing it up to date with the most modern possible technology.”
He added: “More work for the yard means more jobs and opportunity for local people in Fife. It was a pleasure to show Rear Admiral Stratton around the yard, to show him the facilities and to introduce him to some of our apprentices.”
The yard has already returned to full operational status and is carrying out work across both defence and commercial markets. One of its recent projects was construction of the Navantia UK Seahorse pontoon, an £8 million investment intended to support construction of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s three Fleet Solid Support ships by moving ship blocks between Navantia UK’s Appledore and Belfast facilities.
That project gives Methil a role in the wider Fleet Solid Support programme even though final construction of the ships is centred elsewhere within Navantia UK’s network. The yard has also secured what the company describes as a competitive international vessel-build export contract and is recruiting an additional 120 people to support that work.
Employment at Methil has already increased from 180 to 260 people, including 54 apprentices. A further 20 apprentices are due to join in September as Navantia works towards its wider target of recruiting 500 apprentices across the business by 2030.
Rear Admiral Stratton said: “It was a pleasure to visit Methil and see first-hand the significant progress being made under Navantia UK ownership. The investment in facilities, equipment and people is transforming the yard’s capability and creating opportunities for the local workforce, including a growing number of apprentices who will play a key role in the future of UK shipbuilding.”
He added: “The modernisation of Methil demonstrates the importance of sustained investment in sovereign industrial capability and highlights the contribution the yard is making to Defence outputs and the wider Defence Investment Plan.”
The investment leaves Methil positioned as one of several UK yards Navantia is recapitalising for future naval and commercial construction, with the company seeking to rebuild fabrication, block construction and associated shipbuilding capacity across its British sites.
