Jobs lost after shipyard closure

More than 500 workers at Appledore Shipbuilders lost their jobs

Staff at an electrical engineering company have been made redundant as a result of the collapse of a north Devon shipyard.

About 25 workers at LEC Marine in Appledore were told on Monday that they have lost their jobs with the electrical contractors.

The company employs 200 people and operates at shipyards around the country, including its South West Division at the Bidna Yard in Appledore.

The division was owed more than £1m by Appledore Shipbuilders and has now been forced to appoint an administrator.

Receivers called

More than 500 workers at Appledore Shipbuilders lost their jobs when receivers were called in a month ago.

Appledore had been struggling for months but gave up when its order book was empty. It called in the receivers, who then put the shipyard up for sale.

Colin Pettifer of the Amicus union said of the LEC Marine losses: "I think it was wholly predictable.

"The company involved was directly related to Appledore as far as all their work went. So, once Appledore went, it was inevitable that this would have a knock-on effect on LEC Marine."

In the last few weeks, at least three other companies have suffered as a direct result of the Appledore crisis.

The small shipyard Mashford Brothers, near Plymouth, has gone into administration. So far, there have been five redundancies .

Barclay Curle, of Appledore, has laid off about 10 joiners and carpenters, and Robertson Winches, also of Appledore, has closed with the loss of 20 plumbing jobs.

Tim Jones of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council said: "The experience that we have is that the supply chain is invariably much bigger than we first predict.

"We think that around Appledore yard there are 50 or so companies involved in the supply chain and in the worst case that could mean another 200 job losses.

"We have to work very had to ensure that this doesn't happen."

The administrators of LEC Marine hope to rescue the company as a going concern.