‘CONSTRUCTIVE talks’ have been held with billionaire businessman Jim McColl over his desire to breathe new life into Inchgreen drydock.

Greenock & Inverclyde MSP Duncan McNeil today revealed the Clyde Blowers supremo is ‘still keen’ on striking a deal to utilise the Greenock facility to complement his Ferguson Marine shipyard in nearby Port Glasgow.

Mr McNeil, inset, arranged talks with the entrepreneur, fellow politicians and senior business chiefs at his parliamentary office in Greenock yesterday in a bid to pave the way for a possible deal.

The Labour MSP was joined by Inverclyde MP Ronnie Cowan, council leader Stephen McCabe, local authority regeneration director and Riverside Inverclyde chief executive Aubrey Fawcett and Allan McQuade, who is the director of business infrastructure at Scottish Enterprise.

The talks were triggered after Mr McColl recently revealed an interest in using Inchgreen to build larger ocean-going ships.

The site is owned by property giants Peel Holdings, which also controls Greenock’s Ocean Terminal, and Mr McNeil expects the delegation to meet with officials from the company in the coming weeks to help broker an agreement — and potentially create hundreds of jobs.

Mr McNeil said: “We had a good hour with Jim McColl and I think what brought us together was his enthusiasm, ambition and confidence that we have great, physical assets here in Inverclyde like Inchgreen drydock. We are all in agreement that we want to make the best use of those assets and try and create jobs. There’s good progress taking place at Ferguson’s and that’s visible to us all.

“There is a vision there to create jobs and apprenticeships and if it’s possible to access Inchgreen drydock that would be beneficial.

“But it’s owned by other people —— Peel Holdings.

“The next stage now is to confirm meetings with senior executives at Peel.” The SNP’s Mr Cowan was also pleased with the talks — and says it would be a ‘real pity’ if an agreement could not be reached with Inchgreen’s owners, who earlier this year embarked on a major new marketing campaign to attract investment to the site.

Mr Cowan said: “Inchgreen would be the next piece in the jigsaw in the revitalisation and growth of Ferguson Marine.

“Therefore, it would be a great pity if an agreement could not be found.

“Obviously, commercial considerations for all parties are paramount.” MSP Mr McNeil admits there are lots of hurdles to be cleared before anything can happen but says the will and determination is there, especially from Ferguson’s saviour Mr McColl.

He said: “From the point of view of elected representatives — myself, Stephen McCabe and Ronnie Cowan — although the community doesn’t own the asset, we want to use whatever influence we can to make sure the assets we have at the waterfront are used in the best interests of the community.

“We believe we have a role in helping to co-ordinate that.

“Mr McColl would be very keen to lease it if possible, short of buying it.

“He would be keen to get access to it and would be keen to support it accelerating jobs and using the physical asset to the benefit of jobs.

“There’s a lot of interest here.

“Cammell Laird shipbuilders have a big say in the drydock.

“We will explore all avenues and see how best we can work with people.”