FERRY FIASCO: Ferguson managers given ‘unacceptable’ £87k in bonuses despite ferry problems

Managers at a beleaguered shipyard were paid £87,000 in bonuses despite a lack of certainty over the cost and delivery date of two over-budget and late ferries.

Ferguson Marine Port Glasgow (FMPG) has been mired in controversy since it was nationalised in 2019 – when problems with the Glen Sannox and as-yet-unnamed hull 802 were discovered.

Originally due to cost £97 million, the two ferries are now estimated to cost at least £293 million and could rise by a further £9 million, according to the Auditor General.

In a scathing report released on Tuesday, Stephen Boyle said six managers at the yard had been handed a total of £87,000 in bonuses for the year 2021-22, without government knowledge.

The payments were approved by the remuneration committee at the yard and based on a paper from former turnaround director Tim Hair, who recommended a 7.5% bonus for the directors, which he later said in a letter was “was payable as a result of the structural completion of the hull on vessel 801”, according to the report.

The report added: “There was a lack of transparency and good governance around the assessment and approval of these payments. FMPG was unable to evidence the evaluation over the discretionary element of this payment.

“The Scottish Government was not made aware of these bonus payments, and they were not subject to approval by the sponsor department.

“I would consider it as a matter of good practice and governance for FMPG to have sought advice and approval from the Scottish Government in this case.”

Mr Hair, the report found, was also paid a total of £1.8 million during his time at the yard between August 2019 and February 2022.

The final cost of the ferries, the report added, remains “uncertain”, with another £9.5 million potentially needed for the completion of the vessels, due to be finished in May of this year and March of next.

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