Anger over H&W administration plan
Going into administration despite purchase by Navantia, suppliers are left with millions in unpaid bills (Source: H&W)
A letter exchanged by UK Government ministers last week points to confusion over the entry into administration of Harland & Wolff (H&W), which is occurring despite an agreement with Navantia to buy the company.
Last week, MP Tan Dhesi sent an open letter to the Secretary of State for Defence John Healey asking for clarification on why “no mention was made of H&W entering administration” as it “may have impacted on suppliers’ decisions in respect of their contracts with H&W”.
In the letter, Dhesi adds pressure on the Government to foster relationships between Navantia and “all of H&W's suppliers, not just those involved in the Fleet Solid Support Ships programme,” in an acknowledgement that the Spanish shipbuilder will prefer to work with its own suppliers than those based in the Britain and Ireland.
The company’s four yards are to be placed into administration, meaning their new owner Navantia will not be inheriting their debts. Suppliers throughout Britain and Ireland are liable to be left with “significant” amounts of money unpaid – something which not specified during the announcement of the sale in December. Last week, Belfast MP Gavin Robinson called the development “deeply concerning” and said that the administration announcement would come as a “hammer blow” to H&W suppliers.
One Belfast-based supplier owed GBP 22 million (EUR 26 million), speaking with The Irish Times, described the situation as a “rug pull,” and added that even though 1,000 H&W jobs had theoretically been preserved, suppliers to the yards “...have already started laying people off.”
