In February, offshore fabrication specialist GEG emerged as the preferred bidder for Nigg, which employed 5,000 workers in its 1970s heyday in the Cromarty Firth but has largely lain dormant for the past decade.

After a “long and complicated” due diligence process – and with much massaging from the Scottish government – GEG has sealed a deal with the owner, Texas-based engineering and construction giant KBR, for an unspecified amount of money.

GEG,