INVERCLYDE SHIPBUILDING
Photos of Cartsburn by George Martin
Photos of the Training Centre
Incorporated as Scott Lithgow Training Centre in November 1968 the company was a joint venture of the merging companies of Lithgows Ltd, Greenock, Inverclyde and Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Greenock,working in co-operation with the Shipbuilding Industry Training Board, formed under the Industrial Training Act, 1964, to create a training centre on the river Clyde’s lower reaches. The company became a part division of Scott Lithgow Ltd, shipbuilders, Greenock, Inverclyde at merger of Lithgows Ltd, shipbuilders and repairers, and Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd in 1970. A part of the Scott Lithgow Group of companies, the training centre was nationalised in 1977.
The general decline in shipbuilding affected the numbers being trained and by 1980 the centre was grossly under utilised. Following British Shipbuilders’ restructuring programme of 1981, the training centre became a non-operating subsidiary.