Govan Shipbuilders
Govan Shipbuilders of Clydeside
The company was formed from Upper Clyde Shipbuilders, itself a product of the amalgamation of several Clydeside yards:
- Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co
- Alexander Stephen and Sons
- Charles Connell and Co
- Yarrow and Co and
- John Brown and Co
1971 Upper Clyde Shipbuilders had gone into receivership. Further government support in the form of a £6m loan had been refused by the then Conservative government under Edward Heath. Instead of striking, the unions decided to complete the current orders of the shipyards demonstrating that the labour force was not 'work-shy' and illustrating the long-term viability of the yards. This was successful to a degree.
1973 Govan was sold off as Govan Shipbuilders.
1977 The Labour government of James Callaghan passed the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act which nationalised Govan and grouped it with other major British shipyards as British Shipbuilders
1983 British Shipbuilders was privatised and the various divisions were sold off.
1988 the yard was acquired by Kvaerner[1]
1999 Kvaerner put Govan up for sale. GEC expressed interest, planning to incorporate the yard in its Marconi Marine division of Marconi Electronic Systems which it had just sold to BAE Systems[2]
See Also
- [1] Wikipedia