Meet the Finalists: Future Skills Award
Over the coming days, Maritime UK will be profiling each of the finalists in this year’s Maritime UK Awards. Winners will be announced on 12 November in an event live streamed from Plymouth. Registration is open here.
Diamond sponsor of the Maritime UK Awards, MLA College, are also sponsoring the Future Skills Awards at the 2020 event this November.
The Maritime UK Awards are open to all businesses, charities and organisations of any size, and the Future Skills Award will be given out to those that have made a tangible contribution to meeting the future skills needs of the sector. The award recognises a winner which will be able to evidence pioneering activity across education, training or apprenticeship development, to help match available skills to the emerging requirement of the maritime sector.
The winner of the award will be announced at a virtual event, live-streamed and broadcast from Plymouth, Britain’s Ocean City on 12 November 2020 from 5pm.
MLA College is an award-winning educational provider in Plymouth offering higher education courses in a range of maritime and marine based subjects. Their courses are designed specifically to meet the needs of industry professionals and employers.
John Chudley, Rector at MLA College said:
“As a Diamond Sponsor for the Maritime UK Awards we are delighted to be the named sponsor of the Future Skills Award. This category celebrates those that have made a significant contribution to investing in their future skills needs and/or that of the sector; without these champions our sector would look very different. Investing in skills is something we all need to do to ensure growth and a sustainable future. The MLA College look forward to celebrating with those shortlisted and to learning from best practice.”
Highly respected experts from a variety of businesses and government departments were involved in the judging panel for this year’s Maritime UK Awards, which celebrate the achievements of the UK’s maritime sector, which adds £46.1bn to the UK economy every year, and supports 1.1 million jobs.
Shortlisted for the 2020 Future Skills Award are three strong entries from organisations making dedicated efforts in maritime skills and training: Princess Yachts, Solent LEP and the 1851 Trust.
Princess Yachts are a British luxury yacht manufacturer specialising in motor yachts measuring between 35 and 114ft. Recognising that their success is largely due to the skills and abilities of 3,000 employees, Princess Yachts invest time and effort in their apprenticeship programmes in order to provide career opportunities to young people. The company offers apprenticeships for people of all ages in boat building, marine engineering, design, welding, business, leadership, IT and composites. Princess Yachts currently have 100 apprentices throughout their organisation, and 10 % of current managers started their careers through the programme.
Solent LEP is a partnership between industry, academia and the nine Solent local authorities, and ensuring that the Solent’s key maritime sector skills it needs to continue to push boundaries is a strategic priority for the LEP. It has invested significantly in maritime skills, training and careers investing £1.8m in the Portsmouth Naval Base Marine Engineering Centre; £11m CoE for Composites, Advanced Manufacturing and Marine (CECAMM); £7.5m for the Warsash School of Maritime Science and Engineering refurbishment; £268,816 for the MVOW Employee Training Programme; £51,200 British Marine Boatbuilding Trailblazer Apprenticeship in SMEs and a £3m grant and £3m loan for the Centre of Excellence in Engineering, Manufacturing and Advanced Skills Training (CEMAST).
The 1851 Trust is an education charity committed to working with teachers to inspire young people nationwide. The aim of their Maritime Roadshow for Girls, supported by the Department for Transport, was to raise the aspirations of young women and increase the number who consider STEM and maritime careers across the country. Twelve roadshows were delivered at nine locations across the UK with up to 120 girls at between the ages of 11-14 from local schools attending each of the events. The programme directly reached 1,236 girls from 93 schools across the UK, and as a result, 96% of the participating teachers felt it was more likely that their students would be more interested in STEM subjects after attending.
Harry Theochari, Chair of Maritime UK, said:
“We’re delighted to announce the finalists for the Maritime UK Awards 2020. Across all fourteen categories we can see some genuinely world-beating products, services, and operators. I’m particularly pleased to see some fantastic projects being showcased in the new Clean Maritime categories. Given the importance the sector places on getting to net zero, it is important that we celebrate the progress made on that journey and connect people together so that they can achieve more than on their own. These awards help do just that. The quality of entries this year is testament to the strength and commitment of our maritime sector to be world-class despite the most challenging of circumstances.”
Ben Murray, Director of Maritime UK, said:
“We were determined that these awards would go ahead, and in an ideal world would have been one of the first occasions at which colleagues from across the sector could come back together following COVID-19. With that not being possible due to new restrictions, we think it’s really important to celebrate the remarkable work that has been going on – in responding to COVID-19, and in spite of it – which sends a message of resilience and ambition.”
The 2020 Maritime UK Awards are hosted by Maritime UK South West and delivered by Plymouth City Council. Diamond Sponsors are the MLA College and the University of Plymouth.
Tickets to the live-streamed event are free and open to everyone. To register visit the official website.