An unexpected mini-boom of work enjoyed by a Western Isles renewable energy yard has created a headache of finding enough trained workers and locating accommodation for them.
The Bi Fab facility near Stornoway has issued an appeal for islanders to help house workers to complete a contract after tradesmen were forced to knock back jobs because they cannot find a bed in the town.
Accommodation on the island of Lewis is already under pressure due to a promising start of what looks like being busy tourist season.
The fabrication yard by Stornoway is working flat out on an order for deck foundation structures for the Beatrice offshore wind farm being built in the Moray Firth.
Arnish started on the transition decks and piles for the 588MW project in mid-October, increasing the workforce at the site by 71 people.
When the original order was shipped out from Stornoway in March the yard did not close but instead secured more fabrication work which should see it through towards the end of this year.
Workforce numbers have risen to 125 staff and more tradesmen are urgently required for manufacturing ten transition decks which sits on top of the turbine foundation jackets.
But all suitable local personnel have been taken on with the firm now hiring workers from the mainland.
BiFab Arnish general manager, Neil Campbell, said the additional work means a “sharp up-manning of all trades.”
They want to recruit welders and scaffolders and are also struggling to find them a room.
Accommodation that is available is targeted at the tourism market and is too expensive for working men.
In recent days, ten tradesmen turned down jobs at the last minute because they could not find a affordable place to rent.
Mr Campbell said: “We are now taking on travelling tradesmen but the island is getting into the tourist season” sparking the accommodation crisis.
The search for traditional B&Bs is “exhausted” and now they are seeking to rent rooms or even houses from within the wider community.
The company is interested in speaking to islanders who are willing to “accommodate working men on a weekly basis.”
“We are looking for houses, cottages or rooms to let.”
“We are appealing for anyone with suitable available accommodation at an affordable price to contact us.”