Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fife Council stands ready to help BiFab workers

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon visited BiFab when its short-term future was secured in 2017
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon visited BiFab when its short-term future was secured in 2017

Fife Council and Scottish Enterprise remain in daily contact with BiFab as the company prepares to enter 2018 with its long-term fate still far from certain.

The firm, which employs 1,400 people in Fife and Lewis, teetered on the brink of administration three times last month as intensive talks to secure its future took place.

An agreement on a financial package to complete the current contract for the Beatrice offshore windfarm only guarantees work until next April at the BiFab yards in Burntisland and Methil.

Up to 140 jobs at the yard in Arnish near Stornoway are expected to be lost by the end of the year.

Keith Brown, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, has said he believes BiFab has a viable long-term future after the government helped secure a deal with contractors to keep the business afloat.

Fife Council co-leader David Ross said work was ongoing to ensure that was the case.

“Obviously the council was very pleased with news of the agreement that saved BiFab from going into administration,” he said.

“This will see continuation of the work on the current contract for the Beatrice offshore windfarm project, safeguarding activity at the two yards in Fife.”

The Labour councillor said the local authority had been in close contact with the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise throughout the recent negotiations.

“Looking ahead, the council and Scottish Enterprise remain in daily contact with the company on a number of areas, including securing future contracts for offshore work,” he said.

Discussions are also being held on potential improvements at the Fife Energy Park at Methil, where BiFab is the largest tenant.

Bosses are also exploring how future workforce requirements can be better met through an apprentice programme supported by the council.

Mr Ross said the authority was preparing for every eventuality.

“No compulsory redundancies have been announced to date,” he said.

“However, in the event there are any announced in the future, Fife Council stands ready to deliver a range of services to people facing redundancy.

“That is the current position and the council is keeping in very close touch with the company.”