- Government launches new scheme to help buyers purchase
UK-built ships.
- Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme expected to create
hundreds of UK jobs and contribute hundreds of millions to UK
economy.
- Part of £4 billion National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh
plan to revitalise UK shipbuilding sector, which contributes £2.8
billion a year to UK economy and supports 42,000 jobs.
A new government scheme to help ship buyers access finance to buy
UK-built vessels and upgrade existing ones will boost Britain’s
coastal communities.
Through the Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme (SCGS) the
Government will act as a guarantor for lenders, unlocking credit
for maritime firms.
It will help to boost the UK shipbuilding industry and drive
growth in areas such as Liverpool, Plymouth, the Solent, Rosyth,
Clydebank and Belfast.
Minister for Industry and Economic Security said:
Shipbuilding is an integral part of the UK’s industrial identity
and through this scheme we are backing our great maritime
businesses to get ahead of the competition.
With cutting-edge vessels designed and built here in the UK this
will be a boost to high-skilled careers and every company
involved in the supply chain for shipbuilding, helping us to grow
the economy.
The SCGS is expected to create hundreds of new jobs and
contribute hundreds of millions of pounds to the economy,
according to government estimates based on the demand for
commercial shipbuilding in the UK.
The scheme also forms part of the Government’s £4 billion plan to
revitalise UK shipbuilding and coastal communities through the
National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh announced last year.
Industry Minister will formally launch the
scheme at an event onboard a Thames Clippers’ boat – built at
Wight Shipyard, one of the UK firms which stands to benefit from
the new scheme – today (26 July) in London.
The SCGS will guarantee a percentage of the value of loans used
to purchase, refit, retrofit or repair vessels, sharing the risk
with lenders to encourage offers of finance to UK vessel owners
and operators.
Shipbuilding Tsar and Defence Secretary said:
As I set out in the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh, this
scheme will help build confidence in UK shipyards, allowing them
to invest in the people and the technology to drive productivity
forward in this vital sector of the UK economy.
Shipbuilding is hugely important to the UK, supporting 42,600
jobs nationwide and adding £2.4 billion to the economy every
single year. A strong domestic sector helps to support the wider
economy’s export ambitions, with 95 percent of UK trade moved by
sea.
Maritime UK CEO Chris Shirling-Rooke MBE said:
We applaud the Government for delivering on the pledge it made to
industry in the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh by
launching the Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme.
The SCGS is a massive vote of confidence from government, and it
will empower the UK’s shipbuilding enterprise to compete fairly
on the global stage in doing what it does best: building Great
British ships.
The shipbuilding industry is a growing part of the UK’s new green
economy. Supporting the purchase, construction and repair of
high-value vessels will encourage continued investment in
innovative, sustainable, low-carbon maritime technologies.
Background:
- The Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme is one of a number
of targeted measures being taken as part of the government’s
National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh to encourage ship owners
and operators to place new orders and upgrade their existing
fleets with the world-leading shipyards that are based up and
down the UK.
- Supporting shipbuilding, with its presence from Belfast to
Birkenhead, and from Plymouth to Clydebank, builds on the
government’s commitments to grow the economy and level up.
- The wider maritime sector employs 113,000 people nationwide
and contributes £11 billion to the economy.
- As well as supporting a vast supply chain and sustaining
skilled jobs across the UK, the shipbuilding industry delivers
world-leading capabilities for the Royal Navy, making a
significant contribution to national security.
