Ferguson Shipbuilders

Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd (Shipbuilders)

Type	Private
Industry	Shipbuilding
Founded	1903
Headquarters	Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, Scotland
Key people	Jim McColl, (Chairman) Keith Mitchell, (Chief Executive)
Number of employees	Over 200
Parent	Lithgows (1961-1970) Scott Lithgow (1970-1977) British Shipbuilders (1977-1989) Clyde Blowers Capital (2014-present)
Website	http://www.fergusonmarine.com/

Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd is a shipyard located in Port Glasgow on the River Clyde in Scotland. It is the last remaining shipbuilder on the lower Clyde, and is currently the only builder of merchant ships on the river - the company's mainstay has long been Roll-on/roll-off ferries, primarily for Caledonian MacBrayne, the largest of which is the Oban-Castlebay ferry MV Isle of Lewis, which is also Ferguson's largest product ever built. Ferguson's also built two of the world's first roll-on/roll-off Hybrid powered Car ferries MV Hallaig and MV Lochinvar and the yard is building the third in a class of four. Ferguson's has built over 360 ships.

On Friday, 15 August 2014, the shipyard appointed KPMG as administrators, placing the company into administration.

Wednesday 10 September 2014 saw Clyde Blowers Capital, an industrial company owned by Jim McColl, purchased the yard for £600,000. Clyde Blowers Capital will invest between £8 and £60 million in the shipyard and anticipate growing the workforce by up to 400 employees.

The Company was founded by the four Ferguson Brothers (Peter, Daniel, Louis and Robert) who left the Fleming & Ferguson shipyard in Paisley to lease the Newark yard in Port Glasgow in March 1903. The Ferguson brothers acquired the freehold in the Newark yard in 1907. The Company was purchased by John Slater Ltd. (Amalgamated Industries) in 1918, but was returned to the control of the Ferguson family in the late 1920s. Lithgows Ltd. purchased an interest in the business in 1955 after Bobby Ferguson's death and took control of the Company in 1961. The Company remained a separate entity within the Scott Lithgow group from 1969 to 1977.