Harland & Wolff, the iconic shipyard with over 160 years of maritime and offshore engineering pedigree, is delighted to welcome eleven new apprentices to its Methil site as part of its very first ‘Apprentice Induction Day’.
The scheme will run in line and with partnership from Fife College and will see apprentices range from 16 – 27 years old, with a mixture of genders.
Held on Thursday 26 August, the day ran from 9am – 4pm and gave the newest recruits a chance to tour the site as well as learn more about Harland & Wolff’s heritage and significance within national and international maritime sectors.
William Duff, General Manager at Harland & Wolff (Methil) commented: “We’re incredibly excited to welcome our newest apprentices on site and to the Harland & Wolff Group. Steeped in history and heritage, Harland & Wolff is a great place to start your career, especially as we begin to ramp up work on our latest contract for the fabrication and load-out of eight wind turbine generator (WTG) jacket foundations. These jackets will service the EDF Renewables and ESB owned Neart na Gaoithe Offshore Wind Farm project located in the outer Firth of Forth in Scotland. Committed to harnessing fresh talent and paving the way for the next generation of UK trades, there isn’t a better location and organisation for our apprentices to begin their professional journey.”
Harland & Wolff Apprenticeships are offered across three distinct functions, Trade, (welders, pipefitters, electricians, riggers, fabricators, etc) Technical, (engineers, naval architecture) and Business Support (sales, administration).
Highlights of the unique training programme include practical on-the-job training, one to one mentoring alongside its experienced workforce, shipyard training facilities and the opportunity to earn while you learn.
As part of the scheme, apprentices will have the chance to experience working across Harland & Wolff’s five key markets; cruise & ferries, defence, oil & gas, commercial and renewables, as well as across the full lifecycle of services it offers; technical services, building and fabrication, repair and maintenance, in service support, conversion, and decommissioning.
Harland & Wolff is a multisite fabrication company, operating in the maritime and offshore industry through five sectors: commercial, cruise and ferry, defence, oil & gas and renewables and six services: technical services, fabrication and construction, decommissioning, repair and maintenance, in-service support and conversion.
Its Belfast yard is one of Europe’s largest heavy engineering facilities, with deep water access, two of Europe’s largest drydocks, ample quayside and vast fabrication halls. As a result of the acquisition of Harland & Wolff (Appledore) in August 2020, the company has been able to capitalise on opportunities at both ends of the ship-repair and shipbuilding markets where this will be significant demand.
In February 2021, the company acquired the assets of two Scottish based yards along the east and west coasts. Now known as Harland & Wolff (Methil) and Harland & Wolff (Arnish), these facilities will focus on fabrication work within the renewable, oil and gas and defence sectors.
Harland & Wolff is a wholly-owned subsidiary of InfraStrata plc (AIM: INFA), a London Stock Exchange-listed firm focused on strategic infrastructure projects and physical asset life-cycle management.
In addition to Harland & Wolff, it owns the Islandmagee gas storage project, which is expected to provide 25% of the UK’s natural gas storage capacity and to benefit the Northern Irish economy as a whole when completed.
About InfraStrata plc
InfraStrataplc is a London Stock Exchange-listed firm focused on the development, commercialisation and operation of advanced high-value strategic infrastructure facilities and projects.
InfraStrata plc acquired the assets of Harland & Wolff (Belfast) in December 2019 as a separate division to its core asset its underground natural gas storage facility at Islandmagee in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Since then, the company has gone on to acquire Harland & Wolff (Appledore) based in North Devon as well as Harland & Wolff (Arnish) and Harland & Wolff (Methil) – two Scottish based sites.
The Islandmagee facility is a strategic infrastructure project, the first phase of which will provide a safe, secure and flexible supply of natural gas for mainland UK and the entire island of Ireland, which relies upon gas for some 60% of its power generation. It is intended that the second phase of the project will extend its reach into the UK mainland.
