WOULD-BE owners of Ferguson Marine have hit out at the "severe mismanagement" of the shipyard at the centre of a ferry building fiasco after it emerged that ministers are paying a 'turnaround director' more than £790,000 a year to run it.
Gloucester-based businessman Tim Hair was handed the £2565-a-day deal by ex-finance secretary Derek Mackay two years ago.
Documents show Hair was paid £791,285 between January 1 and December 31 last year.
Now Sandy Easdale, who owns the Greenock-based McGill's Buses has accused ministers of "throwing taxpayers’ cash around like confetti" in the ongoing ferries scandal.
Mr Easdale who is spearheading the £350m rejuvenations of the former IBM Greenock and Tullis Russell papermill site in Glenrothes, said the people of Inverclyde were "sick of the national embarrassment" that had been created by government around the once proud Ferguson Marine shipyard.
Alongside his brother James, Sandy Easdale had expressed an interest in saving the yard when it went into administration in August 2014.
The last civilian Clyde shipyard was ultimately sold to tyoon Jim McColl and then went into administration five years later following a dispute with Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd - the taxpayer-funded company which buys and leases publicly owned CalMac's ships on behalf of the Scottish government - as the price of the construction of two lifeline ferries under a £97m fixed price contract more than doubled.
Ferguson Marine's financial collapse in August, 2019 led to a state takeover, while the delivery of two lifeline island ferries MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802 which were due online in the first half of 2018 will be between four and five years late.
Mr McColl went on to blame repeated design changes by CMAL for the issues in building the vessels for operator CalMac, which is also publicly-owned.
Around £45m in Scottish Government loans to keep the yard afloat have also been written off.
The McGill’s owner – who says he is not affiliated to any political party - said he had today written to Stuart McMillan, the SNP representative who is seeking re-election to Greenock and Inverclyde, to express his dismay at the payout.
He said: “The situation at Ferguson’s since the first administration has been nothing short of a national scandal. I know the skills and talent that were there when we looked at the business in 2014 – it needed leadership and investment to make it prosper.
“Instead, time after time, the workers at Ferguson’s and the people of Inverclyde have been let down by mismanagement and a succession of individuals only interested in lining their own pockets at the taxpayers’ expense.
“When you think the situation can’t get much worse then news breaks that £790,000 of public cash is being paid to a consultant to run the yard. This is while staff are leaving in their droves because they no longer want to be associated with the scandal that the SNP government has created there.
“Ferguson’s is a relatively small facility and should be simple to manage with the right people and processes. However, there is a lack of accountability and we are seeing tax contributions thrown around like confetti. I’m sick of it and I know the people of Inverclyde are too."
Opposition parties on Holyrood's rural economy and connectivity committee united in condemnation over ministers' rejection of their "catastrophic failure" conclusion of an inquiry into the procurement of the ferries which have led to up to five years of delay.
In their 129-page report, MSPs called for a “root-and-branch overhaul” of the ferry procurement process, declaring that established procedures are “no longer fit for purpose”.
The report in December said the Scottish Government was too willing to press ahead with the ferry project despite the risks involved and stated CMAL and Transport Scotland’s due diligence was “inadequate”.
But connectivity and islands secretary Paul Wheelhouse hit back insisting the government took "balanced, informed decisions following appropriate diligence and independent advice" and that securing hundreds of skilled jobs cannot represent failure.
He said: "Scottish Ministers took balanced, informed decisions following appropriate diligence and independent advice. In reluctantly accepting increased cost and timescale for the delivery of the vessels, Scottish Ministers have acted and have secured hundreds of skilled jobs and wider economic activity. I do not regard those difficult decisions to represent a failure."
But Mr Easdale said: “If I was to manage any of my businesses in a similar fashion then I’d cease trading and carry the can for that. But with this government, no one takes responsibility regarding this saga.
“Recent figures I saw quoted in the media said that in 14 years pre-devolution and up to the 2007 Scottish elections — 12 ferries with a combined tonnage of 33,350 were launched. In the following 14 years, with the SNP in power at Holyrood, only five ferries with a combined tonnage of 16,188 entered service.
“It is clear that there is severe mismanagement regarding our once proud shipbuilding tradition in Inverclyde and it’s about time we got real answers for why that has been allowed to happen.”
A Ferguson Marine spokesman said: "A benchmarking exercise was conducted as part of the recruitment process to identify market rates.
"This was especially relevant for the Turnaround Director. The agreed fee was well within the benchmark and consistent with market rates which reflect the highly specialised nature of a role that requires senior level experience and a solid track record of transforming failing businesses.
"Tim Hair is an experienced specialist in transformational change with a track record of stabilising companies in difficult situations. "
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