KOREAN electronics giant Hyundai has named Laing Management Scotland as carekeeper contractor for its #1000m factory near Dunfermline after negotiations over cost and payment with main contractor Sir Robert McAlpine broke down earlier this month.
Laing Management, a division of construction firm Robert Laing, is now operating as main contractor on the Halbeath site.
McAlpine, which is making a ''phased withdrawal'', will have a presence there for up to two months as existing direct works are completed.
Laing will oversee operations on the 150-acre site next to the M90 motorway until a permanent building contractor is found.
Hyundai was unwilling to set out a timetable or name any contenders for the post.
McAlpine, Tarmac and Amec were the three companies shortlisted for the job last year.
It is not known whether the two runners-up are being considered to take over, or whether the appointment of Laing as interim contractor is a precursor to it taking charge permanently.
In a joint statement issued earlier this month, Hyundai and McAlpine announced the latter would withdraw from all operations on the silicon wafer factory site after leading construction there for more than three months.
McAlpine will be paid for the work it has carried out. It is not known if a figure has been agreed.
Negotiations for the construction of the plant failed to produce an agreement on the total cost of the project, with Hyundai and McAlpine reportedly ''poles apart'' over their estimates.
However, everyone involved was careful to emphasise that the handover had been smooth and relatively amicable.
Sub-contractors working for McAlpine have been retained by Hyundai and will work under the permanent main contractor after its appointment. There are 20 to 30 sub-contractors on site every day.
nThe semiconductor equipment industry is expected to unveil guidelines that will set world-wide standards for handling a new type of raw material for making computer chips.
The guidelines will help the industry switch to the manufacture of 300-millimetre silicon wafers, the round slabs of semiconductor material from which most computer chips are made.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article