Overview
- Balaena announced on Wednesday that it has acquired APCL Group, bringing Cammell Laird (Birkenhead) and A&P yards (Tyne and Falmouth) under its ownership.
- The enlarged group now operates 12 dry docks and employs more than 2,000 people across the UK, Gibraltar and the Mediterranean.
- Balaena says the combined business will target Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary contracts while offering expanded commercial repair and refit services for cruise, ferry, cargo and offshore vessels.
- The company plans targeted investment in yard modernisation, digital tools and low‑emission propulsion work and will launch a national skills and apprenticeship programme with local colleges.
- Unions have welcomed the sale for the jobs it secures but pressed for domestic retention of shipbuilding work, a demand that ties into the UK’s Strategic Defence Review and industrial resilience aims.