2008 Employer of the Year Large business (250+ employees) - Pendennis Shipyard
Tristan Jones
Employer of the Year Large business
Employer – Pendennis Shipyard
Learning Provider – Cornwall College
A variety of apprentices can be seen working on motor cruisers, doing metal work and spray paining.
Mike Says “The growth has been phenomenal really if you were here twenty years ago and had a look around, the things you see today simply weren’t here, and without the apprenticeship we simply wouldn’t have done it.”
A group of apprentices are outside in the shipyard talking to their instructor.
Jill says “Currently we have 44 apprentices out of a workforce of 290. And of those we now have a project manager working at the shipyard, we have an electrical supervisor, and we have an engineering lead hand.”
Various employees are working on the boats, we see them painting, working with sheet metal, and fixing navigational devices.
Mike says “The way we set the apprenticeship up was to really develop rounded people. Not just robots that would come in and make the best join. People who would do it with a smile on their face, and in a way that the client feels that he is number one at all times.”
Jill says “We wouldn’t be doing this unless we were committing 100%, because we want our young people to commit 100%.”
Tristan says “I’ve seen the company gradually build from a small company to a larger company. And still it maintains a small company’s ethos. Throughout my career Pendennis have continued to support me, and I think in the future we will grow together.”
A member of staff is in a paint room, priming the hull of a boat for painting or varnishing.
Jill says “We’ve produced people who’ve got an appreciation of all the other trades within the shipyard. We want them at that point to continue to develop on the basis that we’ve given them.”
We see staff putting the finishing fixings in place on a boat.
Mike says “To have the best people you surely got to have the best training. And I know we have the best training scheme for this type of operation available today in the world.”
Pendennis Shipyard, winner of the Large Employer of the Year Award at the Apprenticeship Awards 2008.