SOUTH Korean firm CS Wind company has acquired Argyll-based wind turbine infrastructure company Wind Towers Scotland (WTS) from stakeholders SSE and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).
The investment of up to £14 million is expected to secure 134 jobs at the existing WTS plant in Machrihanish and create up to 70 new jobs in rural Argyll.
SSE had an 81 per cent stake in WTS, while HIE had a 19 per cent share.
WTS managing director Grant McPherson said: “We are immensely pleased CS Wind has announced this major investment in Scotland.
“Machrihanish is an ideal location for wind tower manufacturing with an excellent reputation and highly skilled workforce.
“The team at Wind Towers is completely supportive of this development and already looking forward to the opportunities to come as CS Wind has stated it has big plans to build on the current success of the factory.”
WTS supplies wind turbine infrastructure to markets across Europe.
Sandy Biggar of SSE said: “Transfer of our stake in the business to CS Wind represents a renewed growth opportunity for Wind Towers and job security for the staff there on top of increased employment opportunities for skilled workers based in Argyll and Bute.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here