Two of three BiFab yards bought out of administration

Two of the three BiFab fabrication yards have been bought out of administration.

BiFab, which had two steel fabrication yards in Fife and the Isle of Lewis, went under last year after failing to secure any new contracts.

London-based firm InfraStrata is taking on sites at Methil in Fife and Arnish on Lewis, but not Burntisland.

It is hoped the yards can win contracts for offshore wind projects and shipbuilding under new ownership.

InfraStrata already owns the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast and the two Scottish sites will operate under the Harland and Wolff brand name as part of the £850,000 deal.

Twenty-nine remaining staff are transferring to the new company, though they are currently furloughed.

InfraStrata's ideas for the Arnish yard include ferry maintenance, with the possibility of installing a floating dock.

BiFab was put into administration, when it was part-owned by the Scottish government and a Canadian engineering firm, having failed to win contracts to build platforms for offshore wind turbines.

The Scottish government put £37m into BiFab in equity and loans, and had offered a further £15m loan facility.

John Wood, chief executive of InfraStrata, said: "With this acquisition, we now have a footprint in Scotland, which is the hotbed for major windfarm projects as well as for shipbuilding programmes.

"I wish to warmly welcome the personnel whom we have taken on at Methil and Arnish and I am confident that we will turn these facilities into highly successful businesses that generate jobs and investment into their local economies in due course."