Peel Group owners the Whittaker family agree deal to sell Birkenhead’s Cammell Laird shipyard, along with two other shipyards, to Cornwall-based Balaena. Tony McDonough reports
Iconic Birkenhead shipyard Cammell Laird has a new owner after a multi-million acquisiton deal was announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Balaena, a Cornwall-based maritime engineering and shipbuilding group, has acquired Cammell Laird’s parent company APCL Group, which also includes two other shipyard and engineering businesses, A&P Tyne and A&P Falmouth.
Combined turnover of the APCL Group is more than £250m although Cammell Laird is by far the biggest of the three entities with annual revenues of almost £163m. A&P Falmouth revenues are £64m while A&P Tyne is £28m.
Founded by entrepreneur Simon Gillett, Balaena also owns the historic dry dock and dockyard facility in Gibraltar, Gibdock, and a shipyard in Padstow, Cornwall.
In Cammell Laird they have acquired a business that employs around 700 people and is enjoying one of the most successful and stable periods of its near 200-year history. However, things were looking considerably bleaker in 2021.
Taking on the £200m project to build the polar research vessel Sir David Attenborough had initially brought the company a bucketload of prestige.
However, Cammell Laird had underestimated the sheer scale and complexity of the build. While the successful delivery of the vessel was an undoubted triumph, the cost overruns threatened to hole the firm below the waterline.
Since then it has seen a remarkable turnaround. In November 2025, it posted its accounts for the 12 months to March 31, 2025, on Companies House. They showed a business in rude health with an 11% rise in revenues to £162.8m and pre-tax profits up 17% to almost £8.1m.
During the accounting period it was successful in winning new contracts such as Western Ferries for two new vessels, alongside existing projects, and the pipeline for future work is “strong”.
This is the seventh year of the second 10-year through life support contracts to support the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). During the year Lairds worked on eight core RFA projects for vessels including Tideforce, Fort Victoria, Tidespring and Proteus.
Workers at the yard have also built the first new Mersey Ferry for more than 60 years, Royal Daffodil, commissioned by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority at a cost of £26m and is also supporting BAE Systems on the Royal Navy Type 26 frigate programme.
Until today APCL Group was controlled by Tokenhouse, an entity based in the Isle of Man controlled by the Whitaker family, which also owns Peel Group. The value of the sale to Balaena was not disclosed.
David McGinley, chief executive of APCL Group, said: “Joining Balaena marks an exciting new chapter for APCL and our workforce.
“It secures the future of our shipyards, allows new investment in digital and green shipbuilding technologies, and renews our commitment to working closely with local communities on Tyne, Birkenhead, and Falmouth to create jobs, apprenticeships, and lasting prosperity”.
Balaena plans to invest in modernising APCL’s facilities, expanding capacity for ship repair, offshore fabrication, and low-emission propulsion systems.
A new national skills and apprenticeship programme will also be launched in partnership with local colleges and maritime training bodies to develop Britain’s next generation of maritime professionals.
And this new enlarged business will provide the basis for increased support to UK defence interests, and underpin the Government’s UK Industrial Strategy.
Simon Gillett, who is also chief executive of Balaena, added: “This acquisition reinforces our long-term commitment to British maritime capability – creating jobs, expanding apprenticeships, and driving innovation in line with the ambitions of the Strategic Defence Review and the UK’s Industrial Strategy.
“By uniting Balaena’s vision and ambition with APCL’s skilled teams in Tyne, Birkenhead, and Falmouth, we are strengthening the UK’s ability to deliver for both the Royal Navy and the global commercial maritime sector.”