Name change at historic shipyard

CAMMELL LAIRD TO BE KNOWN AS BALAENA BIRKENHEAD FOLLOWING £150M TAKEOVER

- By ELLIOT JESSETT

A major change has been announced to Merseyside’s historic shipyard yesterday, just a week after a £150million takeover was confirmed.

Balaena, the maritime engineering and shipbuilding group, which also owns sites in Gibraltar and Padstow, has announced the acquisition of APCL Group, the umbrella organisation that operates Cammell Laird.

The ECHO met with Balaena Group CEO, Simon Gillett yesterday morning (June 15), who spoke to us about the purchase of Cammell Laird, what workers can expect from the new company, as well as the recent tumult about the defence spending review. Mr Gillett also announced a decision to introduce a new name for the shipyard.

From today, the shipyard on the banks of the River Mersey, will no longer be known as Cammell Laird. Instead, it will be called Balaena Birkenhead, bringing it in line with the company’s other sites.

Asked why the name change was being introduced, Mr Gillett said: “It's not been an easy decision, as you can imagine. This has been a year getting to this process, in terms of the acquisition, and through that process, we've flip-flopped all over the place with the name change, yes or no?