Anglo-American consortium buys Devonport Royal Naval Dockyard for pounds 40m

An Anglo-American consortium of engineering and services companies has agreed to buy the Devonport Royal Naval Dockyard in Plymouth (above) from the Government for pounds 40.3m in cash.

The consortium includes BICC, Wier Group and Halliburton of the US. The trio already owns the Devonport Management Partnership, which will continue to provide nuclear refuelling and refitting for Trident and other nuclear submarines into the next century, the Ministry of Defence said.

Some 4,500 people work at the dockyard and consultations with trade unions have been completed. The MoD sold the other main naval support base, Rosyth, to Babcock last year. The engineering union, the AEEU, welcomed the sale. Photograph: Apex