Welcome to the latest Marine Matters from Gallagher.

This month we talk to Alex Bowman at Sunseeker International Ltd about its fantastic apprenticeship programme which is helping to address the industry-wide challenge of attracting, keeping and developing talent for Sunseeker.

About Sunseeker International

Sunseeker is the world’s leading brand for luxury performance motor yachts. Founded by brothers Robert and John Braithwaite in 1969, the company has since become a global icon with every Sunseeker the result of an uncompromising and unmatched approach to design, craftsmanship and performance.

From its manufacturing base in Poole, Sunseeker employs around 2,200 people and produces around 150 boats a year ranging from 38-161 feet. The New Product Development strategy implemented in 2019 saw Sunseeker double its product range from 11 to 20 models. A significant £35m investment in facilities, people and products accelerated the growth seen in the product range and investment continues apace with £40m committed to a renewed product development plan until 2025. This continual investment in research and development is evident, not only in the application of world-class innovation but also in the design and construction of its boats. New materials and propulsion systems are continually developed and introduced to the range to offer improved environmental impact, better handling and better comfort on board. Working very closely with over 100 retail and service locations in 60 countries, service and product support is a key priority in maintaining customer satisfaction.

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Here we talk to Alex Bowman, Head of Organisational Development at Sunseeker International Ltd in Poole.

What are the challenges for you at Sunseeker right now?

Like many employers in the UK, we are seeing significant growth in sales with opportunities to increase our market share. Each Sunseeker is built by hand, with many components assembled in-house by our skilful workforce. The challenge we face is sourcing suitable talent to ensure that we continue to build our yachts on time and to the level of quality our customers expect. We are hugely proud of our British-made product distributed worldwide, but it does need a huge skilled workforce to maintain output.

The government has talked about levelling up a lot since the pandemic, and here at Sunseeker, we are certainly in a levelling up phase. However, we, like many businesses in the UK, have struggled to recruit the skills we need. It is well reported in the media that there is a dearth of skilled workers across the country and we are seeing fierce competition over wages, which, according to the ONS, have been rising steadily.

We believe that there are two notable reasons for this shortfall, the first is the immigration policy post-Brexit has made it more challenging for migrating skilled labour to come into the UK to work.  In addition, the Apprenticeship Levy (a 0.5% tax on our total wage bill), which was the result of a government review published in 2012, over ten years ago, is not currently structured in a way which supports the changing dynamic of the labour market and economic conditions employers in the UK now face.

But you do actively recruit apprentices?

Yes, we have a well-established apprenticeship recruitment programme that seeks to hire up to 100 new apprentices each year. We have been recruiting apprentices since 1979 and it’s due to the legitimate passion our workforce has for apprentices in training that we see so many successes coming through the programme. We highly value our apprentices and they are taken under the wings of highly skilled long-standing team members. Real credit is due to the skilled trades working across Sunseeker who pass down their years of knowledge, skills and wisdom to the apprentices and enable the programme to deliver.

So doesn’t this solve your challenge? What are you doing to sort this issue out?

This year our team recruited 85 new Level 3 apprentices into our business, bringing the total to over 150 in training. That’s around 7.5 percent of our workforce. Our apprentices will undertake a four-year marine engineering or boat building programme, provided by Bournemouth & Poole College. The programme is a traditional method of training boat builders and engineers, and we continue to see huge successes from this programme as graduates often progress into leadership roles. Many of our leadership team are former apprentices, including our Production Director, who completed an Electrical Apprenticeship at the start of his career.

In response to the national skills shortage affecting the marine industry, we have recently launched the Sunseeker Skills Academy offering individuals the opportunity to undertake a fully paid, 12-week intensive boat-building course. Successful applicants will learn trade skills across five boat building specialisms, comprising carpentry, plumbing, composite bonding, engineering and electrical installations. Following an intensive training programme, students will join colleagues at the Sunseeker shipyards in Poole to further develop competencies and achieve a nationally recognised qualification over 12 months.

We’re taking a proactive approach to address the industry-wide challenges in attracting and developing talent.  By partnering with Bournemouth and Poole College, we can create training programmes that are tailored to teach the skills that we need, to expand and evolve the pool of talent that is the lifeblood of our industry. We aim to start 100 new boat builders through our new Skills Academy in 2023, which will complement our existing and award-winning apprenticeship programme.

How does a working week look for an apprentice?

We support our apprentices to attend college one day a week as a paid employee, with the remaining four days learning on the job in the shipyards.  We work closely with Bournemouth & Poole College and their modern Marine Technology Centre, which features a wide variety of maritime technology and our apprentices are taught by some of the best marine tutors in the industry.

Every apprentice has a placement plan that seeks to take them through every stage of the boat build by working with skilled and experienced trades within the business. They will stay with a particular boat model to learn all aspects of the build, according to their trade.

Apprenticeship training is funded by the tax that we have paid into the apprenticeship levy. The students can earn while they learn and, they will complete their training without any debt owed.  There are different levels of apprenticeships in the UK generally from Level 2 (GCSE) – 7 (PHD). We currently offer a Level 3 Apprenticeship which is equivalent to A Levels. For the top-performing apprentices, and those with the aptitude for higher education, we regularly support the funding of higher apprenticeships, via the apprenticeship levy, at Levels 5 (HNC) and 6 (Degree).

Readers who are interested in joining Sunseeker can apply for their new career or register for vacancy alerts at sunseeker.com/careers.

For further advice about apprenticeships, contact Bournemouth & Poole College.

• thecollege.co.uk/school-leavers