Harland & Wolff: ‘Strong case’ to keep yards together

The operating companies, which run the yards, are expected to continue trading as new owners are sought.

Russell Downs, a restructuring expert, was appointed executive chairman in July after the company’s chief executive John Wood stood down.

Mr Downs has tasked Rothschild bank with finding a buyer or buyers and hopes to conclude that process by the end of October.

He told the BBC’s Today programme that keeping the yards together was “sensible from an operating perspective” but he can’t prejudge what bidders will want.

“Some yards may be owned by one owner with other yards owned by another, so we’ll just have to see where the process gets to,” he said.

Spain’s state-owned shipbuilder Navantia is understood to have expressed an interest in the Belfast yard.

It is the main contractor on a project to build three support ships for the Royal Navy with Harland and Wolff as subcontractor.

Mr Downs said: “We have a number of interested parties and some of them are looking for the business as a whole, including our gas storage facility just outside Belfast.

“Others are more specific about what they’re interested in. We’ll just have to see what the offers come in at and make a decision at that point,” he added.