Over 100 marine companies and stakeholder organisations attended a breakfast this week, jointly hosted at the PSP Southampton Boatshow by accountancy and business advisory firm BDO LLP in Southampton, and Hampshire & IOW Business Alliance (HIBA). Its focus was on the future of the marine and maritime sector on the south coast.
Following a welcome by Howard Pridding, Chief Executive of the British Marine Federation (BMF), the Chairman of the HIBA, Jimmy Chestnutt, explained the impetus behind the formation of the alliance in response to the government’s desire to simplify and improve support to businesses.
As a result, the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, Hampshire Economic Partnership, the IOD, BMF, EEF, Hampshire County Council and the Federation of Small Businesses have committed to work together. They are calling for companies to join one forum to exchange views and create a strong voice for the region. This single forum will be the mechanism for business engagement with the Solent LEP and support access to funding in the marine and other sectors.
Phil Brownsord, Region Director for the EEF set the economic backdrop for marine manufacturers, and issued a note of caution: “Whilst the outlook is generally positive, the current global unrest is impacting orders, and political pressure on spending decisions are key current concerns. However, the likely increase in defence spend would offer opportunities for some sections of the marine sector.”
Brian Johnson, UK Business Development Director, BAE Systems and Chairman of the Solent Marine & Maritime Steering Group explained: “A fifth of the Solent region’s economic output and 60,000 jobs are directly related to the marine and maritime sector. As such it is pivotal in the Solent LEP’s plan, whose recent marine and maritime report identified six areas of focus: leadership; developing out ports; marine manufacturing; technology and innovation; skills; and brand ‘Solent’. We have brought together employers from all sizes to form a Marine and Maritime Steering Group to drive the initiative and help with budget and support.”
Future projects will include leveraging the benefits of Ben Ainslie’s America Cup HQ in Portsmouth; development of a composites centre of excellence in the region; and a £1m fund support and development of innovative technology related to unmanned marine systems. The latter will provide matched funding between £25 – 75k in grants to businesses seeking to develop technologies which will help position the region as a world leader in marine autonomous systems.
A programme to address the skills shortage in all areas of the marine sector was also launched at the breakfast. It is anticipated that there will be 31,000 jobs to be filled between now and 2020, and the LEP has outlined a £1.5m skills fund to support marine and advance manufacturing to create apprenticeships, train workforces for SMEs, help people back into work, and facilitate co-operation between employers and education suppliers in the region.
Richard Acland, CEO of Green Marine talked about the development of the new class boats for the Volvo Ocean Race which begins in a few weeks: “The introduction of the VO65 class will mean that all teams will be competing on a level playing field for the first time. We were contracted by Volvo to design and build all the boats, which we achieved through the creation of a global consortium, led by Green Marine and involving a wide supply chain of UK businesses – A real British success story.”
Closing the breakfast, James Tetley, Head of Marine for BDO commented: “The marine sector in our region is incredibly diverse, encompassing property, manufacturing, technology, and logistics, before you even consider the commercial, leisure and defence divide. One of the key challenges of the sector is that of a combined identity. With the continued work of the new Marine and Maritime Steering Group, we hope to help foster that sense of common purpose and allow the various stakeholders to unite with a voice that can begin to effect real change.”
