Cammell Laird's £44m aircraft carrier contract 'testament to the skills of the workforce'Cammell Laird shipyard has been awarded a £44m contract to build the flightdeck for the Royal Navy's new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier.The UK is building two new carriers for the Royal Navy, to be named HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince Of Wales, the Queen Elizabeth Class due to enter service in 2014 and 2016, respectively.
Geoff Searle, programme director of Ministry of Defence agency the Aircraft Carrier Alliance said; “This £44m contract which has been awarded to Cammell Laird is certainly great news for the region and a testament to the skills of the workforce on Merseyside.
"The Queen Elizabeth Class of aircraft carriers will be the largest ships to ever enter service with the Royal Navy and we now have companies in almost every region of the UK on contract to collectively deliver these fantastic ships.
“Much work is already underway in other parts of the UK and Cammell Laird are due to cut the first steel on their part of the first ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth in the summer this year.”
Welcoming the news, Birkenhead MP Frank Field said: "The yard is a huge success story, which is building on its list of very substantial contracts.
"This success is not just for Cammell Laird, but is also for Birkenhead and for the country. The company should also be praised for the way its apprentices are trained."
The carriers will be the biggest and most powerful surface warships ever constructed for the Navy and represent a massive improvement in capability, enabling the delivery of increased strategic influence around the world.
The MoD says the new ships "will be a key component of the improved expeditionary capabilities needed to confront the diverse range of threats in today’s security environment."
The two new vessels replace the Invincible class of aircraft carrier. Contracts worth around £300m to build elements of the ships were granted to six companies across the country.
Laird will not be making a statement until a special "launch day" in early February.
LAIRD FACTFILE:
Cammell Laird shipyard is one of the most illustrious names in British industry.
Known across the globe, the Birkenhead yard has been operating since the late 1820s after being founded by Scottish entrepreneurs William Laird and his son John.
It has built nearly 1,400 ships including many famous vessels such as the aircraft carrier Ark Royal Cunard's second Mauretania of 1939.
In 1993, under the ownership of VSEL, the company produced its final ship - the HMS Unicorn submarine.
Today the shipyard specialises in military refits, commercial ship repair, upgrade and conversion and heavy fabrication and engineering.
In 2008, Northwestern Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders officially renamed itself Cammell Laird Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders Limited.
In that same year, the yard pumped more than £33m into the Merseyside economy and more than £50m into its UK supply chain.
More than 1,200 people worked at the yard in permanent and sub-contracted positions. The yard also currently has 59 trade apprentices in training.
In June, 2008, the yard signed a 25-year through life support contract with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary for the maintenance of 11 ships. THE GLOBE
