The boss of famous Mersey shipyard Cammell Laird is standing down.
The Birkenhead yard announced that John Syvret is retiring as executive chairman and chief executive at the yard and at its sister business Atlantic & Peninsula Marine Services.
David McGinley, the managing director of Atlantic & Peninsula, will take over as CEO at Cammell Laird with immediate effect.
Cammell Laird has enjoyed a rollercoaster history. but in recent years has reclaimed its place as one of Merseyside's manufacturing giants.
Mr Syvret helped led the buyout of the yard following its high profile collapse in 2001, at first focusing on ship repairs.
Shipbuilding returned to the yard in 2012 and recent successes have included the building of polar research ship the RRS Sir David Attenborough.
In 2018 Cammell Laird was named Business of the Year at the Echo Regional Business Awards.
In 2013 Mr Syvret was named Business Person of the Year at the awards, then backed by the Liverpool Post. Judges said: "It was a matter of great pride for our winner when shipbuilding returned to the yard in 2012."
Mr Syvret, who has worked in the maritime sector for 43 years, will remain a director at Cammell Laird and Atlantic & Peninsula. The company says he will also continue his work with charities including Wirral Youth Zone and with national industry related boards including the Society of Maritime Industries and the Maritime Enterprise Working Group.
His successor as CEO, David McGinley, served in the Royal Navy for more than 20 years before spending 13 years at defence giant Babcock.
He joined Atlantic & Peninsula in 2017 as group managing director responsible for all ship repair activities and operations at the A&P Group facilities in the North East and at Falmouth, Cornwall. Mr McGinley will keep his role at A&P alongside running Cammell Laird.
He is also a visiting professor at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland and is a past president of the UK Shipbuilders and Ship Repairers Association
