THE BRITISH MARINE FEDERATION PROMOTES DEVELOPMENT AT
THE BMF TRAINING AWARDS
The British Marine Federation's Training Awards have been
presented in a new format this year, with the aim of recognising
excellence in both companies and individuals alike.
The annual awards are designed to celebrate Marine businesses
and individuals that demonstrate outstanding business and personal
success through investment in training. By raising awareness of
this, the awards hope to inspire others to invest in learning and
development.
Prizes were awarded at the BMF AGM Conference in Bristol to
three nominated categories; The Small Company Training Award, The
Large Company Training and Development Award, and the Trainee/
Apprentice of the year.
This year's winners are:
Trainee/ Apprentice of the Year Award
Robert Hitchen, who studied at The Boat Building Academy
in Lyme Regis won this award. Rob worked as a
Fisherman in Salcombe but wanted to work as a Boatbuilder. He
renovated and sold his fishing boat to finance his Boatbuilding
course and went on to complete a City & Guilds Level Three
certificate in Boatbuilding at Boatbuilding Academy. Since
completing the course he has set up a company to build Salcombe
Yawls and within twelve months expects to be in a position to
employ another boat builder to work alongside him.
2008 Trainee of the year case
study
Second place was awarded to Tristan Jones, of Pendennis
Shipyard. Tristan undertook a four year Apprenticeship at
Pendennis Shipyard and then proceeded to complete a HNC and HND in
furniture construction. The company then sponsored him
through three years of study to attain a Degree in 3D design.
During this time he worked for three and a half months per year at
the shipyard. On returning full time to Pendennis he has been
working as an Assistant Project Manager on a number of large
projects.
With so many outstanding nominations, joint third place
was given to Jacob Stimpson; Princess Yachts, and Gavin Williams;
Windboats Marine:
Jacob completed his Boatbuilding apprenticeship at Princess
Yachts within three years; he was awarded the Monks & Crane
award in 2007 and has been selected for a Management course within
Princess Yachts as a first step onto the management ladder.
Gavin moved from his home in Wales to join Windboats as an
apprentice Boat Outfitter. He is an outstanding trainee within the
company with a personal desire to move forward into Naval
architecture.
Large Company Training and Development
Award
MylorYacht Harbour won this
category, having developed an entire company approach to
development, encapsulated in a programme called "The Way Forward".
The original aim was to provide Customer Service training for all
staff not only with reference to customers, but also staff
internally. This proved to be a catalyst for change within the
company. Staff now benefit from an understanding of roles
right across the company: an accountant can have an understanding
of osmosis and a shipwright can understand his own individual
impact on capital expenditure. Training is now key to the future
development of Mylor and each department now has a rolling two year
skills and training plan, which covers apprentices and management
training.
Large Company Training and
Development Award Case study
Second place was awarded to Pendennis
Shipyard. Pendennis introduced a cross company
Apprenticeship scheme in 1988 which represented a revival of the
traditional apprenticeship scheme but with a modern twist. The
scheme was further developed in 2005 via the construction of a
pathway for surface finishing meeting both a local and national
need. This allowed Pendennis to develop a world class finishing
team in the shipyard, and decrease the reliance on
subcontractors.
Third position was awarded to Varis.
Varis was not able to source the necessary training required for
staff development in the Highlands and Islands region, so set up a
Training Division within the company. This now not only delivers
Apprentice training to internal Engineering staff but is also being
expanded to other local companies.
Small Company Training and Development
Award
For this newly established award, judges felt unable to select a
winner this year. They would however like to recognise and highly
commend Bisham Abbey Sailing School.
Sarah Dhanda, Director of Training at the BMF said: "On behalf
of the British Marine Federation I would like to congratulate all
the winners and runners up. Their commitment to training is
admirable and demonstrates the high quality of both training and
trainees in the Marine Sector, I would also like to thank all those
member companies who submitted entries and to encourage many others
to take advantage of this opportunity next year."
Small Company Training case
study