SHIPWELD SPARKS INTEREST IN BIRKENHEAD

ESAB's ShipWeld competition is building support, with Cammell Laird of Birkenhead being the latest shipyard to join the event.

Eight of the yard's 71 apprentice welders took part in a ShipWeld heat with the winner being 19-year-old Ben Birch. Ben joined Cammell Laird in November 2009 and is finalising his NVQ 2 which will lead to his level three NVQ. He will complete his apprenticeship in 2012.

Mike Moran, Production Director of Cammell Laird presented a trophy to the winner. Cheron Robinson, ESAB Group Publicity Manager and Richard Craig, ESAB's UK Sales Manager, also presented prizes on behalf of ESAB to all entrants.  The winner received an Eyetech II reactive light helmet, and runner up Sam Scott was awarded an OrigoTech Helmet.  Both Ben and Sam will go forward to the ShipWeld final in October at BAE Govan.  

Sam will be 18 in July this year and joined Cammell Laird in January 2009. Sam is studying an NVQ level 3 apprenticeship now and will finish his apprenticeship mid to late 2011.  Both have expectations to go further in the company.

Despite the high standards achieved in the very close competition, this is the first year Cammell Laird has taken part in ShipWeld. 

"We joined ShipWeld because we have a long proud tradition of developing apprentices and quality respected tradesmen and we felt we had the capabilities and strength to enter the competition and win it," said Danny Hart Human Resources Manager, Cammell Laird Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders Limited.

"This type of programme allows the apprentices to show what they are capable of. It allows us to nurture talent and earmark the talent of the future. They are the heartbeat of Cammell Laird’s future.

"The boiler maker apprentice program accounts for 50% of the apprentice program as there is need to replace our ageing workforce and these skills are required in the yard.

With the average age of welding in the UK standing at something like 56-58, there's a huge need to make the job attractive to a younger potential workforce.

ShipWeld puts the spotlight on welding, encouraging new apprentices to sign up for a career in welding, and giving the business some of the kudos it deserves.

It is a two-part competition with the first stage the internal yard competitions.  The winnerand runner up of each then goes through to the ShipWeld final.

The national finals of ShipWeld 2010 are to be held in Glasgow and will involve six hours of solid welding testing.

Sponsoring ShipWeld had been excellent for ESAB. The idea is to add to the friendly rivalry that already exists between UK shipyards and enable the apprentices to gain invaluable experience by taking part in the competition.

Competitors use the latest ESAB welding equipment and ESAB consumables for the final. 

As well as encouraging the development of welding skills, ShipWeld also promotes good health and safety practices.

Cammell Laird’s apprenticeship programme has recently been recognised as one of the best in the region. The National Apprenticeship Service made the firm one of the top three large employers in the North West at an awards ceremony at Manchester’s Midland Hotel.

About Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird is one of the most illustrious names in British industry.
 
The business is located on the River Mersey, in the Liverpool City Region, on the West Coast of England. It is in the centre of a marine cluster, with direct access to many support services. It has a 120 acre site with four dry docks, a massive modular construction hall and 40,000m2 of covered workshops.

Cammell Laird specialises in military ship refit, commercial ship repair, upgrade and conversion and heavy fabrication and engineering. And it deals with a wide variety of projects ranging from specialist offshore conversions and fabrication, commercial ship-repair through to the refit and upgrade of highly complex naval auxiliaries.

Cammell Laird grew its turnover by 70pc to £90.8m in the financial year 2008-2009. It expects turnover to stabilise at that level in 2009-2010.

 
In 2009 the company pumped more than £43m into the Merseyside economy and generated nearly one million man hours up from 517,000 in 2008 employing more than 1500 workers in full time and contracted positions.