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YES-supporting tycoon Jim McColl, who has stepped in to save the last shipbuilder on the lower Clyde, will have the keys to the yard within five days.

And last night, he pledged to quadruple the workforce within three to five years.

Seventy jobs were lost when Ferguson of Port Glasgow collapsed. But the yard will be back in business before the end of the year, with half of these posts filled by the middle of next week.

“None of the new employees will lose a penny,” McColl promised on a flying visit to put the finishing touches to the deal to buy the yard.

And he said the business had a bright future in an independent Scotland.

McColl, owner of Clyde Blowers Capital, spoke as he prepared to meet unions and former

management and reveal his ambitious plans for the yard.

The workforce will increase by 50 per cent, to around 100, by February or March next year.

That, initially, will be experienced journeymen and, eventually, more apprentices.

McColl said: “You wouldn’t believe the inquiries we’ve had for jobs since my name was first mentioned here.

“There is an abundance of work out there which we believe Ferguson – with the necessary upgrade of facilities – can undertake.

“Already, we’ve had inquiries about orders. And we have money allocated to go ahead with the immediate improvements that will secure that future.”

McColl says the future will involve work on ferries, oil vessels and other fabrications.

And he believes the industry could flourish after a Yes vote with government support in line with that available to manufacturers in France, Canada and China, where he owns some of his global empire of 90 engineering businesses.

McColl’s initial investment will be around £8million. And with a pot of £420million in his Clyde Blowers Capital empire, he anticipates having up to £50million available for investment in the business – “providing, of course, there is commercial viability”.

He said: “I have no doubts about the yard and its future potential, and the good sense of making such an acquisition in a Scotland that could soon be independent.

“I’m very encouraged by the opportunities offered by possible independence. We would have the levers of power necessary to support industry – in research and development, and in bonding support to back new projects.

“These are not easily available at present. But I believe they will be when Scotland controls all it earns and is not dependent on block grants from a Westminster government that doesn’t necessarily have our best interests as their priority.

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“Scotland’s economy has great strengths, not least in manufacturing. But we need to strengthen those areas to compete more effectively in world markets.

“We need the economic levers to do that – the levers that give the Scottish Parliament real job-creating powers. None of the proposals from the No Camp would give the Parliament real job-creating powers.

“We need to rebalance the economy towards more manufacturing and away from London-centric activities.

“We need to be able to provide Scottish solutions for Scottish problems, where it’s easier to get all the necessary people around one table quickly.”