Receivers hope to sell the yard as a going concern

All 550 workers at 148-year-old Appledore Shipbuilders in north Devon were made redundant on Tuesday after its chairman, John Langham, said there was no option but to call in the receivers.

The secretary of the shop stewards committee, GMB union official Gary Cook, said on Thursday there had been "wonderful support" for the workforce.

He denied there had been a problem with the workforce pension fund, following reports it may have been underfunded.

"There is no problem with the scheme," he said.

Mr Cook said financial help had been offered by shipyards in Scotland, as well as from former shipyard workers in the north of England.

The aid was in response to an appeal by the GMB and Amicus unions for urgent financial help for the workforce, which had been on reduced earning for three months.

Redundancy notices have been sent to the yard's 550 workers

The GMB asked for donations to be sent to the Appledore Shipbuilders Welfare Club.

Receivers from the accountancy firm Tenon Recovery called in to wind up Appledore were shown around the site on Wednesday.

They have said they will try to sell the yard as a going concern.

The GMB union said it knew of at least three different parties interested in buying the yard.

One buyer is the union's preferred bidder and representatives from both parties have been in talks on Thursday with the receivers.

A local consortium has also expressed an interest in buying the business.

The yard will also be advertised for sale in the Financial Times newspaper and a prospectus will be available from Friday.

Appledore Shipbuilders was founded in 1855 and the firm had one of the biggest enclosed ship-building facilities in Britain in the 1960s.

The yard, based on the River Torridge, has built more than 350 ships, including naval fishery protection vessels, trawlers, passenger-vehicle ferries, dredgers and bulk carriers.

The yard completed its last ship nearly a month ago and the company, which had no work in hand, said it lost �1.3m last year and a further �1.9m in the first half of this year.