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Devonport Royal Dockyard in Plymouth is the largest dockyard in Europe, with a waterfront extending over three miles along the River Tamar, writes Keith Hatch.
The site has 14 wharves and jetties, 10 active dry docks and three non-tidal basins, and this year has topped a league table of South West construction projects as Babcock seeks to continue its work to future- proof the site.
A huge amount of construction and refurbishment work has been announced recently at the naval base, most of this around nine and 10 docks. These were built between 1896 and 1907 to provide a home for the new Dreadnought battleships and are in need of upgrading to meet modern naval requirements.
Devonport has a £1bn investment plan over 10 years, and two years ago Babcock signed a deal with a Kier BAM joint venture to deliver its major 10 Dock Refurbishment Project.
This project will support 1,000 construction jobs at the dry dock for
nuclear submarines, along with the demolition of existing buildings and construction of new ones.
With the number of new construction workers on the site union representation is vital. Unite is the largest union at Devonport and has a highly experienced team of lay and officer colleagues, who also represent the union on the Freeport development board, and it will ensure that construction workers are fully represented.
Unite has constantly been at the forefront of improving pay and conditions of workers at the Plymouth dockyard, and in 2022 won an across the board £1,500 per annum pay increase, worth 13 per cent for the lowest paid worker.
Unite South West regional secretary, Steve Preddy, said, “Unite Southwest is determined to ensure its members and workplace reps are central to every phase of planning development and long term jobs – good unionised jobs benefiting the city and people of Plymouth and region more widely.”
10 unite buildingWORKER Spring 2025
Babcock has also created a Babcock Skills Academy that combines digital technology with hands-on-training to develop vital skills.
More than 260 apprentices and graduates began new careers at Devonport last September and were some of the first to benefit from the recently opened Engineering and Nuclear Skills building at City College Plymouth, part of the Babcock Skills Academy.
The apprentice roles include slingers, fabricators and pipe workers, as well as electrical fitters, mechanical fitters and computer numerical control (CNC) machinists.
John Gane, managing director at Devonport, said, “We are delighted that so many apprentices and graduates are beginning their careers with us.
“This reinforces the scale and breadth of the opportunities available for people to join Babcock and have a long-lasting career that is out of the ordinary, delivering work with a real purpose that helps protect national security.”
Alamy
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