SHIPYARD WINS 10-YEAR SUPPORT CONTRACTS WORTH £619M

Liverpool City Region’s Cammell Laird shipyard has been awarded contracts worth £619m.

The two contracts, over 10 years, are to support the Royal Fleet Auxiliary – a civilian-manned fleet owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) – and provide a huge win for the company, enabling it to continue to invest in its workforce, apprenticeship programme and infrastructure.

In total, Cammell Laird said winning the contract will sustain more than 300 jobs at the company and in the supply chain and create more than 100 apprenticeships.

Cammell Laird previously held a RFA cluster contract placed in 2008, which was subject to five-year performance review periods with the MoD.

In 2018 the MoD ran a competitive tender process that saw the company win two new contracts to provide support for the next 10-year period, from March 2019 to June 2028.

The deal, known as the Future In Service Support (FISS) contract, will see Cammell Laird maintain nine ships of the RFA flotilla, the maximum number the company could win.

Cammell Laird chief executive John Syvret said the cluster contract has underpinned the company for the last decade, enabling it to invest more than £500m in its workforce, apprenticeship programme, infrastructure, supply chain and local area.

He said this new deal will see a similar investment over the next decade.

“Winning this new deal will give us the ability to continue our vital apprentice training programme recruiting talented young people from the area at the same drum beat of around 20 new apprentices a year,” he said.

“Today I am very proud to say we have recruited more than 200 apprentices since 2008, investing more than £12m in staff training.

“The benefits the RFA contract brings to our region cannot be overstated and we will maintain our commitment to ensure this money is invested responsibly in our workforce and infrastructure to support the future requirements of the MoD and growth of the UK’s maritime sector.”