Blog: Ways you can get involved with Maritime UK's work!

We often get asked how colleagues across the sector can get involved with Maritime UK’s work. So, look no further, as this blog lists the variety of ways that you can do so.  

Maritime UK is the umbrella body for the UK maritime sector, bringing together the shipping, ports, services, engineering and leisure marine industries. Our purpose is to champion and enable a thriving maritime sector and we have responsibility for the coordination and delivery of industry recommendations within Maritime 2050. 

To make progress, we work with our member associations and with individual companies, organisations and colleagues. Our work is focused on five key areas: 

• people
• competitiveness
• innovation
• regional growth 
• the environment. 

First off, the most useful thing you can do is to sign-up to Maritime UK’s communications and stay up to date with our latest news and insights. You can do so here. 

Second, individual maritime businesses should join their relevant Maritime UK association to best engage with our work. Details of these can be found here. 

People 

1. Diversity in Maritime aims to promote a fair, equal, and inclusive UK maritime sector that embraces diversity and creates a supportive and open atmosphere for all to be able to achieve their potential. The programme includes four, safe-space networks. These networks bring together individuals and allies from across the sector to collaborate, discuss and break down barriers being faced. See the networks here.  
2. Colleagues can support the Diversity in Maritime Taskforce by joining one of its working groups: Recruitment; Retention and Progression; Pledges and Charter; Communicatons and Events, here.
3. Companies can join Port of Aberdeen and Stena Line UK in sponsoring the programme or its networks.
4. Individuals and companies can make use of programme initiatives (like the interview pool to ensure a diverse interview panel) here. 
5. Companies can sign up to the programme’s pledges or take a step further and commit to the charter, which requires the agreement of commitments and targets to help improve diversity across the sector.  
6. Businesses can support Maritime UK’s Careers & Outreach Programme by becoming a Careers Campaign Partner. Businesses can also support the programme through sponsorship. Contact Jess Huxley for more information.
7. You can make use of Maritime UK’s maritime careers brand and resources in your own recruitment activity by downloading them here.  
8. Maritime UK’s Maritime Masters programme is strengthening links between UK industry and academia. Companies and organisations from the maritime sector are invited to submit research themes and topics that students can choose to undertake or be inspired by. Efforts will be made to pair students up with relevant industry adopters to facilitate exchange in the research process. 
9. Maritime UK runs a national cross-sector ambassador programme, Inspiring the Future Maritime. The programme has been designed to support schools are colleges in meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks. Benchmark 5 sets out the expectation that all young people must have meaningful encounters with employers as part of their careers programme. The programme is open to anyone who works in the maritime sector, and Maritime UK provides comprehensive support to equip colleagues when working with schools and colleges.  

Innovation 

1. The Technology and Innovation Group is a forum for both industry and government to identify, discuss and action initiatives to support technological developments pertinent to the growth of the UK maritime sector. The group focuses on key opportunities like the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, hears from funding bodies like UKRI and Horizon Europe, and works with the Catapults. It is chaired by Tom Chant, Chief Executive of the Society of Maritime Industries. Contact your Maritime UK association to get involved. 
2. The Technology and Innovation Group has established an H2 Fuels Group. This group’s main focus is on the technical developments and utilisation of the fuels in the maritime sector. It showcases developments and engages closely with regulators. Contact your Maritime UK association to get involved. 
3. Maritime Research & Innovation UK (MarRI-UK) is a collaborative innovation vehicle for UK industry and academia to jointly tackle innovation and technology challenges. It is an open consortium, aims to address the lack of co-ordination and resource in maritime research and innovation. MarRI-UK focuses on research and innovation within mid TRL (3 – 7) levels, addressing the opportunities between "discovery and research" and "commercialisation" of Maritime Technologies and Systems. Contact MarRI-UK directly to get involved.  

Competitiveness 

1. Maritime UK and its members organise a comprehensive programme of international business development activity. These include inward and outward trade missions and well as the UK’s presence at key international trade shows. Learn more.  
2. You can also learn more about the Department for Business and Trade here and initiatives aimed to support maritime export opportunities such as the upcoming ‘Explore, Support, Export’ webinar here.

Environment 

1. Maritime UK's #NetZeroMaritime Showcase promotes projects that are having a positive impact on the decarbonisation of the maritime sector. The showcase highlighting specific projects in relation to delivery of the government's ten-point plan for a green industrial revolution. Individual companies can submit their case study here. 
2. Businesses can be amongst the first to hear updates regarding the government’s work focussed on maritime decarbonisation by registering for Maritime UK communications. Maritime UK and its members will be working closely with government to inform the scope of the competitions such as the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition and support consortia building.  

Regional Growth 

1. Maritime UK, together with its partners, is responsible for the development and roll-out of an ambitious ‘Regional Cluster Development Programme’, an initiative embedded in the priorities set out in ‘Maritime 2050: Navigating the Future’. Maritime UK members are able to join individual clusters and can contact Simon Eardley for more information.
2. The programme currently supports formal regional cluster organisations who are members of Maritime UK in the following regions: Belfast Maritime Consortium (Northern Ireland), Maritime UK Solent (Solent LEP area), Maritime UK South West (inc. Cornwall Marine Network – LEP areas of Cornwall & Isles of Scilly, Dorset and Heart of the SW), Mersey Maritime (Liverpool City Region/North West). In addition, we work with the Scottish Maritime Cluster (Scotland) and Humber Marine & Renewables (Humber region) as well as developing organisations in the North East and South East of England and Wales. We are aware that cluster organisations don’t yet encompass all regions of the United Kingdom and are always open to engagement with potential partners who may wish to engage with this work to help us further this agenda.

If you would like to offer support, please contact Simon Eardley. 

Raising the profile of the maritime sector 

1. Maritime UK is committed to raising the profile of the sector and to champion shared challenges and opportunities while communicating the positive UK maritime story, at home and abroad. We have a variety of tools which support these activities including our newsletter, social channels and access to mainstream media outlets as well as maritime focused publications.

Contact us if you’d like to learn more about the work of Maritime UK

If you have good news or are making a major announcement, we want to know! Maritime UK is keen to help promote news and developments across the sector. Whether to politicians or to industry, we can help. Contact our Engagement and Marketing Executive – Rosy Staines and be sure to add info@maritimeuk.org to your press release distribution.