SHIPBUILDING union GMB yesterday welcomed the rescue of Ferguson, the Port Glasgow yard which went bust last month with the loss of 70 jobs.

Millionaire tax exile Jim McColl, whose firm Clyde Blowers Capital acquired the yard from administrators, has now offered jobs to 30 of the 70 workers who were made redundant when the yard — the last remaining on the lower Clyde — went into administration last month.

Mr McColl said that the number of staff would rise to 80 by November after an investment of £6 million.

Jim Moohan, GMB Scotland senior organiser, said the union was “confident that the new owner will not only look at the shipbuilding activities which can be successfully produced at the yard but will also diversify into other products which will ensure job security and in turn develop a larger workforce.”

Ferguson Shipbuilders went into administration in August after experiencing “significant cash-flow pressure.”

The company will be renamed Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd and will service the oil and gas, marine and renewables sectors.

Mr McColl, who lives in Monaco, is a prominent supporter of the Yes campaign for Scottish independence.