Tyneside yard faces closure

More than half the workforce at a troubled British shipyard has been made redundant. About 160 of the 240 workers employed at McNulty Offshore in South Shields, South Tyneside, will lose their jobs, while the future of 82 sub-contractors remains uncertain.

The firm, which is one of the largest employers in South Tyneside, with a turnover last year of $67 million, went into receivership earlier this month following a contractual dispute with a major customer. The redundancies came as work on a Nigerian gas platform was completed at the weekend.

However, administrators KPMG still hope to sell the shipyard as a going concern. Joint administrator Julian Whale said: “Following the completion of the platform for Technip SA, approximately 160 workers involved in the project are being made redundant. The future of the yard and the remaining 100 employees is dependent upon continuing negotiations with customers and interested parties.”