Scott Lithgow Explained

Scott Lithgow
Type:Private
Fate:Merged into British Shipbuilders (1977)
Acquired by Trafalgar House (1984)
Foundation:1967
Defunct:1993
Location:Port Glasgow and Greenock, Scotland
Industry:Shipbuilding
Parent:British Shipbuilders (1977-1983)
Trafalgar House (1983-1993)
Subsid:Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
Lithgows
Greenock Dockyard Company
Ferguson Shipbuilders

Scott Lithgow, Limited was a Scottish shipbuilding company.

History

The company was formed in 1967 by the merger of Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and Lithgows.[1] Scott Lithgow was based in Port Glasgow and Greenock on the lower Clyde in Scotland. Scott Lithgow was nationalised and subsumed into British Shipbuilders in 1977.[1] Reorganisation of Scott Lithgow in 1981 saw all the assets of its subsidiary companies transferred under the direct operational control of Scott Lithgow.[1]

From 1980, the company became the centre of British Shipbuilders’ Offshore Division and it was hoped that the offshore semi-submersible market would lead the yard back to profitability. However the Ocean Alliance semi-submersible construction was a disastrous contract for the company, with the rig eventually delivered four years late and at a loss of over £200 million.[2]

In 1984 Trafalgar House bought the company and the Company ceased to trade in 1993.[1]

Notes and References

  1. http://cheshire.cent.gla.ac.uk/ead/search/?operation=full&rsid=15527&firstrec=1&numreq=20&highlight=1&hitposition=3 University of Glasgow Archives
  2. Scott Lithgow: Déjà vu all over again! The Rise and Fall of a Shipbuilding Company, Lewis Johnman and Hugh Murphy, Research in Maritime History series: No. 30, October 2006.