Harris Pye Group: No Swansea Dry Docks License

The news that the Harris Pye Group has failed in its attempt to renew the necessary license to develop and expand the Swansea Dry Docks for use for refurbishment and repair of a wide range of types and sizes of vessels has disappointed the Barry-based group, who had plans for the regeneration of the area and for an increase in employment opportunities. 
 
“We are naturally extremely disappointed not only for ourselves, but for a potential workforce of up to two hundred people and 50/60 trainees per year who would have graduated from our Training School. We also rue the missed opportunity for those who would have helped establish the thriving supply chain that would inevitably have sprung up in support of our actions,” said Mark Prendergast, Managing Director of the Harris Pye Group. “We were looking forward to being able to give Swansea ongoing pride in its maritime heritage.”
 
“We would like to thank all who supported our bid, and those who worked with us in the Docks during late 2009 and throughout 2010. They can take pride in the work they did on Saga Pearl II and on the other vessels/projects that have made use of the two Dry Docks.”
 
Having invested some $793,337 on the Dry Docks, with plans for another $3m to bring the facility up to international standards, Harris Pye also had plans to move the global headquarters of their $158.5m group to Swansea alongside the Dry Docks, which would have seen a further investment of $8m.
 
“Our global business is developing rapidly; and although we are deeply saddened by this decision, we need now to put this disappointment behind us, and move forward with drive and enthusiasm,” said Mark Prendergast. “There is much to be said for that good old expression ‘as one door closes, another opens’ and we are looking at fresh opportunities elsewhere.”
 
The Harris Pye Group is a rapidly expanding global player with main stations in the UK (in Barry), Dubai and Singapore; and offices and repair facilities in Scandinavia, Portugal, Brazil, Bahrain, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Sharjah and Australia, and has active involvement in many key marine and industrial sectors.