'Hive of marine activity' in Gosport galvanises Royal Navy defence jobs in spite of investment plan delays
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Millions of pounds worth of work has been secured by UK Docks in Gosport
Brilliant defence businesses in Gosport supporting the Royal Navy are transforming the town’s local economy - despite broader industry concerns across the country.
Millions of pounds worth of investment has been poured into small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including UK Docks in Victoria Quay. The latter recently secured three contracts worth £84m, with its high-skilled employees maintaining 194 Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels.
This was part of nine deals - valued at £283.9m - offered by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Business development director Ben Mason said he was delighted the deals got over the line.
“It gives us seven years of sustainable employment, and allows us to bring people into the company, develop apprentices, and a chance to reinvest in the business as we grow,” he added. “The boats are really important to the Royal Navy. The Pacific 24 sea boat is deployed from warships, and those vessels are not safe to sail without them. What we’ve created here is a hive of marine activity and these contracts are great for supporting that.”
“Huge asset”
The trio of agreements safeguard 42 jobs, with 18 more set to be created. UK Docks also secured a contract to transform the former Royal Navy survey ship HMS Enterprise, which was sold to Bangladesh. She is due to leave Portsmouth soon for a refit, before heading to Dhaka.
Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage, Conservative, said these deals are vital to the regeneration of the town. She told The News: “UK Docks has been such a huge asset to the Gosport peninsula. I fought really hard with the MoD to release the old retained site of Royal Clarence Yard. I’m thrilled with the amount of investment and the amount of employment they have brought to the area.
“This area has always had a proud track record of serving our armed forces and playing a huge part in defending our nation. UK Docks has been central to it. This was an empty bit of disused military land, but now it’s a thriving employment site.”
Other parts of the Gosport defence industry are being boosted. A mega £879m three-year helicopter maintenance contract was agreed earlier this month, cementing 150 jobs at Boeing in Fareham Road and 300 supply chain roles at StandardAero in Fleetlands.
Dame Caroline hosted shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge on a tour of UK Docks, StandardAero, and QinetiQ. Speaking about former’s contract, he told The News: “The defence industry is so important in local areas like Gosport. These are brilliant businesses that are driving investment into the local economy and jobs here.”
National defence industry doubts
This investment comes amid a mixed picture across the country. The Defence Investment Plan (DIP), due to be published last autumn, has yet to be released and aims to set out priorities of funding across the next decade. It also sets in stone the recommendations accepted in the Strategic Defence Review (SDR). Lord Robertson, who lead the SDR, accused the government of “corrosive complacency” and letting “vandalism” from the Treasury setback the DIP.
Many businesses have yet to receive assurances that contracts will be finalised. Samira Braund, defence director for ADS Group - a defence and aerospace trade association - previously told MPs that “paralysis” is causing job losses and bankruptcies in a “feast or famine” environment.
The government’s position has remained that Labour is working “flat out” to publish the DIP, and it’ll be released when its ready. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer previously told the commons that it’ll be made public as soon as possible.
Minister for defence readiness and industry, Luke Pollard, has cited that contract awards, such as the £879m Apache and Chinook maintenance, shows that the DIP being halted hasn’t slowed down the support for British firms.
Mr Cartlidge disagrees. “I have been asking ministers month after month one simple question”, he added, “when will you deliver the defence investment plan? For the first few months, no one noticed, but other times people have started to realise it. We have war on two fronts, and in a scenario like that,
“Britain needs to be strong and we need a government that gets on with it. That means publishing the Defence Investment Plan for areas of the country where the sector is critical like around here. There is always some procurement going on. There has to be contracts signed, and there are always orders happening for relatively minor things. What we are not seeing is those procurements which are going to transform the military.
“They need to get on with it, not just because of the need to rearm, but because there are companies clinging on by their fingernails. They are waiting for those orders to make fantastic capability in places like Gosport. We should be ordering that so we can rearm, and be strong as a military country.”
Speaking on the state of the industry and DIP delays, Mr Mason added: “There’s a cyclical element to the contracts. They come and go. Our seven year contract will be up for renewal again, and it’s more of a reflection of how contracts are released, competed for, and won.”