Future employment options for the Arnish oil fabrication yard in Stornoway are to be examined as part of a new study being carried out for a partnership of local agencies.

Researchers will consider how the yard can best be used to bring jobs and economic activity back to the area. The £25,000 study is being commissioned by Western Isles Enterprise (WIE), Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CnES) and the Stornoway Trust - who own the yard and the buildings. WIE are contributing £17,000 to the costs with £8,000 coming from CnES.

Following the wide-spread downturn in the oil fabrication industry the last operators of the yard, Lewis Offshore Ltd, went into receivership in 1999. The yard previously provided employment for 200 - 400 people, depending on available contracts. Now Edinburgh-based ERM consultants are to look at how the facility can be brought back into use.

The type of issues to be considered include the feasibility of dividing the yard into smaller units, which would allow more than one tenant to work on the site, or whether there are long term opportunities to attract a single operator. The consultants will also try to identify new and emerging markets or industrial sectors which could potentially occupy the yard.

As part of the study researchers will carry out interviews with local businesses and other agencies.

WIE chief executive Donnie Macaulay said: "Our priority is to get people back working at the Arnish site, and this study will help WIE and its partners find out the best way of doing this. This yard is of enormous strategic importance for manufacturing and production in the north of Scotland. It is essential that, along with partners, we take an objective view of the range of economic activities suited to the site, with the aim of providing long-term opportunities for local people and businesses."

Head of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar's Development Services Committee, Councillor Donald Maclean said: "The impact of the closure of Arnish was a massive blow to the Western Isles given its importance as a manufacturing base and a major employer. However, recent weeks have seen an upturn in the tweed industry demonstrating that given the will, the right marketing, and the right conditions, declines can be reversed. This study will form the basis for that process."

Stornoway Trust factor Iain MacIver said: "We have already had interesting and diverse enquiries about the yard, and this study will hopefully focus our efforts and mark the next chapter in the development of Arnish point as a location capable of sustaining high quality skilled employment for the benefit of our islands."

The study is due to be completed towards the end of March.