Falmouth shipyard's £10m expansion secures jobs
A £10m expansion of a south Cornwall shipyard is to go ahead and is expected to boost jobs through new contracts.
Plans for Pendennis Shipyard in Falmouth were approved by Cornwall Council and will enable larger vessels to be built and moored at the site.
The firm said it was a "protectionist move" to keep up with competition.
Managing director Mike Carr said, like any business, it had to "keep investing just to stand still".
"The boats that we deal with are getting bigger and bigger, so we need to have larger buildings and ultimately have somewhere alongside where we can moor them to," he said.
The 25-year-old shipyard employs about 360 people and the company said the first drive was to "sustain everybody that we've got here working for us".
"By having the bigger buildings we can accommodate bigger boats and be more flexible in our selling, so hopefully it will also mean some additional jobs in the future", he added.
Pendennis is believed to be one of the world's leading "superyacht" builders and most recently refitted the world's largest sloop-rigged sailing yacht, M5.
The shipyard said the expansion would also result in more money being spent in the town.
"The refits that we bring in usually come with crews, who have the opportunity to spend money in the town, and use the pubs, clubs and restaurants," said Mr Carr.