Montrose Port boss on Angus jobs hope as ‘transformational’ investment takes shape
The boss of Montrose Port Authority says a multi-million-pound investment to restore a historic town building is set to pay off with an influx of high-skilled jobs.
It is funding a £7 million project to bring the B-listed Customs House back to use after falling into serious disrepair.
Work has been ongoing for the past two years to breathe new life into the 19th-century building, which will house a ground-floor skills academy thanks to £1.25m from the Scottish Government’s Tay Cities fund.
The authority’s chief executive, Captain Tom Hutchison, has earmarked summer 2027 for the completion of the project. And he believes it can help locals secure jobs in the lucrative renewable energy market.
“We hope to be up and running in around ten months,” Mr Hutchison said.
“We are attracting an awful lot of offshore wind work here in Montrose, and we have ambitions to be the world’s largest growing offshore port.
“We want to get kids into the skills academy and start getting them offshore, because these are future high-value jobs, and they’re going to be around for 45 years.”
Mr Hutchison also revealed that Montrose Port Authority hopes to occupy the top two floors of 1850s-built Customs House, which was on Scotland’s buildings at risk register for more than 20 years.
That leaves the first floor, which he hopes will be used as offices for private sector staff in the offshore wind industry.
Stephen Flynn, Scotland’s economy secretary, visited Customs House on Thursday and spoke to three students on four-year apprenticeships at Dundee and Angus College’s Futures in Offshore Wind course.
“The project is absolutely fantastic,” the MSP told The Courier.
“It has the opportunity to be completely transformational for the young folk who are going to have the opportunity to take part.
“With the huge opportunity that exists in our offshore wind sector, particularly as we make that move to floating offshore wind, the likes of Montrose Port are perfectly located to capitalise upon that.
“The work that Tom and the team have done at the Port over so many years has been incredibly successful.”
Plans for Montrose Port Skills Academy (MPSA) include a dedicated training room and workshop space supporting both formal learning and industry-led training across mechanical, electrical and hydraulic disciplines. There will also be bespoke training for operations and maintenance teams based at the port.
Six youngsters have all secured apprenticeships with wind turbine manufacturer Vestas. These included Nathan Walsh, 17, from Forfar; and Ashleigh Reid, 19, from Arbroath. The pair will begin their new jobs on Monday.
When Customs House opens, all apprentices will work at the skills academy.
Ashleigh said:
“I studied environmental sciences at Arbroath High School, and I really liked renewables, but I didn’t want to do a job in engineering because I was kind of scared to work in a male-dominated industry.
“But I just didn’t know much about it.”
She then began a degree in environmental architecture at Aberdeen University but soon decided “this wasn’t for me.”
“But the apprenticeship definitely is,” Ashleigh added.
“Working and studying is great.”
Montrose contractor Pert Bruce Construction has helped restore Customs House. Workers at the company had to work swiftly in 2024 to stop the building from being lost forever.
Mr Hutchison said:
“What we had to do was take the roof off and put in a metal frame and then four floors of concrete to support the building.
“So there’s not very much left of the interior.
“But the big thing was to repair and protect the stonework on the exterior.
“The north end of it was due to fall down; it was in a shocking state.
“So we’ve definitely preserved the building.”
This article appeared in the Courier on 21 August 2026