Ferguson Marine chief quits shipyard for personal reasons

The interim chief executive of Ferguson Marine has resigned for personal reasons, and the shipyard says it is “very close” to finding his replacement.

John Petticrew’s resignation on Thursday came a few weeks before his tenure as interim CEO at the Government-owned shipyard was due to end at Easter.

Having previously been a non-executive director, he was appointed to the role in March last year after the dismissal of David Tydeman, who had lost the confidence of the company board.

John has had a demonstrable impact on our business and the board wants to thank him for his contribution over the last four years

It is understood family circumstances are behind Mr Petticrew’s decision to resign and he will shortly return home to Canada.

During his period as interim CEO the long-awaited CalMac ferry Glen Sannox was handed over to its owners and the vessel began carrying passengers in January.

The Port Glasgow shipyard has come under intense scrutiny due to two delayed and over-budget ferries built for the Arran route.

There are fears the second vessel, Glen Rosa, could slip further behind schedule.

The overall cost of the ferries is approaching four times the initial figure of £97 million.

Mr Petticrew’s duties will be carried out by others in the senior leadership team until the new chief executive begins.

In a statement released on Thursday, chief financial officer David Dishon said: “John Petticrew has resigned as interim CEO of Ferguson Marine for personal reasons and will shortly return to his home to be with his family in Canada.

“John has had a demonstrable impact on our business and the board wants to thank him for his contribution over the last four years both as interim CEO and non-executive director prior to that. We wish him the very best for the future.

“We remain focused on securing a sustainable and prosperous future for the yard and are very close to announcing a permanent CEO to replace John Petticrew.

“We look forward to providing more detail on this very soon. In the meantime, we remain focused on our key priorities, to secure the future of the yard and deliver MV Glen Rosa as quickly and as efficiently as possible.”

Conservative MSP Sue Webber said: “This resignation is symptomatic of the ongoing chaos that has engulfed Ferguson Marine under the SNP.

“Senior staff at CalMac and Ferguson Marine have come and gone as the SNP’s ferries fiasco has escalated, yet, unforgivably, not a single Nationalist minister has resigned or been sacked for a scandal of their making.”

Earlier this week, a letter from Mr Dishon to MSPs outlined the “verbal agreement” from Mr Tydeman to a subcontractor which led to the shipyard facing a bill of almost £48,000 in unpaid tax.

The chief financial officer said he had carried out an investigation into the arrangement which was made without oversight from the board.

The verbal agreement led to £144,000 being paid to a senior manager, who was originally subcontracted from the government agency CMAL before setting up a consultancy company.

The Scottish Conservatives said the payment was “a prime example of the dodgy deals that have occurred because of the SNP’s completely dysfunctional running of the yard”.

Labour’s transport spokesperson Claire Baker said it was a “bizarre and murky tale” which showed “how dysfunctional things are at the top of Ferguson Marine”.