Strategic commercial assets

The acquisition of the primary shareholding in Glasgow Prestwick Airport Ltd (GPA) by Scottish Ministers was completed on 22 November 2013. The shareholding was purchased for £1 and £2 million was deposited as funding for the airport’s short and medium-term operations. Read more: Glasgow Prestwick Airport Ltd news release.

GPA is run as a commercial undertaking without grant support from the Scottish Government. Support has been in the form of a loan facility, with interest levied in accordance with market rates. A total of £43.4 million has been drawn down by GPA to date.

Scottish Ministers’ longstanding objective has been to return Glasgow Prestwick Airport to private ownership when the time and circumstances are right to do so. Any decision to sell will be guided by the principle that GPA is retained as an operating airport and that any new operator will maintain and maximise GPA’s economic impact for Scotland.

Commercial advisors were appointed in January 2024 to conduct a assess whether it would be appropriate to seek a sale of GPA. Market testing supported a recommendation to Scottish Ministers that a targeted sale process should be undertaken.  The process is ongoing and Parliament is informed at the earliest opportunity of any significant developments. 

The Scottish Government converted £37.4 million of loans, which they had advanced to BiFab on a commercial basis, to a 32.4% equity stake in the company. Read more: BiFab update, December 2020.

The cashflow and balance sheet of the business was weakened by difficult trading conditions including delays in contract awards from potential customers and a lack of support from its majority shareholder at the time. In light of this, the company was placed into administration in December 2020. The administration period has been extended several times and is currently due to expire in December 2025.

The one remaining asset of the BiFab estate is an outstanding debt claim against a customer for unpaid work. As a secured creditor, Scottish Government’s primary interest in BiFab is in pursuing a return through the administration process.

Ernst and Young were commissioned to evaluate the BiFab intervention following a recommendation from Audit Scotland that the Scottish Government seek to learn lessons from its experience of financial interventions in private companies.

On 15 September 2025, the Scottish Government announced £4 million of Scottish Government funding towards a furlough scheme for Alexander Dennis’ Scottish manufacturing staff.  This is the first time that the Scottish Government has supported a company-administered furlough scheme.  The furlough scheme is an innovative intervention to support hundreds of jobs within Alexander Dennis and will act as a bridge to a sustainable future for the company in Scotland.  This outcome was achieved due to the collaboration of a range of partners including management, the workers, trade unions and our enterprise agencies. 

The furlough support is a bridging measure which gives the business an opportunity to secure orders.  Without the furlough support, over a century of automotive excellence in central Scotland would have ended and there would be an annual loss of £25 to £45 million per annum to the Scottish economy, with up to 400 workers losing their jobs.  The just transition to net zero requires that we retain the industrial capacity and skills needed to fulfil growing demand for zero-emission buses and build those zero-emission buses in Scotland. 

The furlough scheme, which will operate for up to 26 weeks, is intended to be the bridge needed to a sustainable future for manufacturing operations in Scotland.  If all the conditions of the furlough grant are met – including initial evidence of contracted orders, then Alexander Dennis will be entitled to recover from the Scottish Government up to 80 per cent of the basic wage costs of its manufacturing staff in Scotland to a maximum claim of £2,500 per employee per month.  The company will still be responsible for the payment of employers’ national insurance and employer pension contributions.  Importantly, the government support scheme extends only to those employees of ADL whose roles are directly linked to bus manufacturing.   The total costs to the Scottish Government will not exceed £4.1 million. 

During furlough, training and other productivity-enhancing assistance will continue to be offered by Scottish Enterprise.  Scottish Enterprise has a strong 10-year-plus strategic partnership with the business and their R&D and operational support will help the company meet market challenges through investment and support the sites to exit furlough with improved performance.