£6m bid for Laird docks

Northwestern Shiprepairers and Shipbuilders has offered £6m to buy the dry docks at the centre of its dispute with landlord Reddington Finance. News of the offer comes as the shipyard group prepares to vacate the former Cammell Laird docks in Birkenhead unless a last minute deal can be agreed to keep them there.

Site owner Reddington Finance, which earlier in the summer gave the firm three months notice to quit, said yesterday it was prepared to listen to Northwestern’s offer and had also offered to let Northwestern stay for another six months on a license. However, the ship repair company’s boss John Syvret has responded by saying the offer to extend the lease is only for three months and that is not long enough for it to sustain a viable business.

If Northwestern does move out it could mean redundancy for dozens of workers. Syvret would not confirm he had offered £6m for the two docks but added: “We would be prepared to consider acquiring the site subject to contract.”

Northwestern acquired the lease to the yard in May when it bought A&P Birkenhead from its Southampton-based parent company A&P Group. Reddington has proposed a £1.4bn plan for a mixed use development on the rest of the former Cammell Laird site.