Stornoway boat repair firm out in the cold after Goat Island deal

7 December 2023

A local boat repair firm have lost the use of a vital work facility after Stornoway Port Authority (SPA) struck a deal with a Devon company to take over the premises.

Macmillan Engineering which has been based at Goat Island in Stornoway for the past 17 years risk losing important customers from across the west coast.

Celebrations at the harbour board landing a new investor to the island hits a sour note for the family-run company which has an excellent reputation in the fish farm and marine sector across Scotland.

Stornoway Port Authority last week announced a partnership with Coastal Workboats to lease a new-build state-of-the-art marine engineering workshop at Goat Island to build small work vessels with the promise of up to 25 jobs.

Directors of Macmillan Engineering said: “Whilst we welcome this new enterprise, unfortunately the continued attitude of the Stornoway Port Authority towards small community-based businesses like ours has turned an opportunity to be a part of this engineering scale-up into the complete opposite.”

The outcome leaves Macmillan Engineering excluded from the facility it has used for well over a year to maintain small fish farm vessels and other utility boats.

The firm says it is shocked at the absence of discussion and SPA’s last minute notice to withdraw the facility.

Now they are forced to work on vessels outdoors even in bad weather which holds up the boats return to work. Customers will simply go elsewhere to undertake maintenance it is feared.

The result is a “threat to our ability to sustain our business and support the wider aquaculture industry in the Western Isles,” stated the company which employs 18 personnel including apprentices.

Macmillan Engineering directors said: “The entire building - both units - has now been promised to Coastal Workboats, with us being given just two weeks’ notice to vacate the premises by 4 December 2023, in our view reneging on the agreement made, and with no regard for the work that required to be completed on our customer’s workboat that was in the unit when the eviction was summarily demanded.

“This left our customer, a significant employer and business for the Islands, equally unhappy with this lack of respect for decency in business, and they subsequently wrote to Stornoway Port Authority voicing their disappointment.”

They added: “We had talks with Coastal Workboats earlier this year with a view to finding a way to work together, and we remain open to solutions that will support the restart of boat building here alongside the maintenance of aquaculture assets that we currently undertake work for.

“The Stornoway Port Authority is in fact a Scottish Trust Port, a mechanism set up to ensure that ports place their responsibility to the stakeholders and community they serve above that of profits for the business.

“For Macmillan Engineering Ltd we are struggling to the see that the way we have been treated in this respect has balanced their responsibility to small businesses like ours that make up that very community of stakeholders.”

Alex Macleod, chief executive at Stornoway Port Authority, said: “We appreciate the view of MacMillan Engineering. However, following discussions it became clear to us the critical need to find a long-term arrangement for the Marine Workshop.

“We would encourage Macmillan Engineering, and other local companies, to continue to liaise with the new tenants to take advantage of the opportunities that this business will present in the island.

“As a trust port, it is our primary responsibility to ensure stability and preserve the business for future generations. This new 10-year lease futureproofs the port authority and will create 25 jobs within the local marine manufacturing sector.

“Unfortunately, this decision has not been popular with everyone, but we believe it is of benefit to the wider community and reaffirms our commitment to growing the marine sector in Stornoway. With the stability of this lease agreed, Stornoway Port can now progress additional workshops which may be better suited for our existing tenants.”