InfraStrata acquires Appledore shipyard in £7m deal

InfraStrata will pay £7m for Appledore Shipyard in Bideford, North Devon, which will be renamed H&W (Appledore) and will offer its undercover building dock and repair facility to vessels at the smaller end of the market.

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In a statement, InfraStrata said it believes “it can achieve a dominant position at two distinct ends of the shipyard market; the lower end of the market at less than 119 metres of dock length (with H&W (Appledore)) and the upper end of the market, requiring dock lengths of 300+ metres (with H&W (Belfast)).”

The current site manager is H&W (Appledore)’s sole employee, but InfraStrata said it is confident “the workforce can be very quickly ramped up upon execution of contracts, discussions for which are already being undertaken with both government and private vessel owners.”

Commenting on the acquisition, Matt Roberts, GMB Organiser, said:“We have always firmly believed that the yard can be viable and thrive in the right hands.