Published at 12:29, Tuesday, 06 November 2012

DEVELOPMENT of future shop floor leaders in the Barrow shipyard is “ahead of the game” – with 80 aspiring bosses being awarded certificates for their achievements.

TOMORROW’S LEADERS: Back row, from the left, Alan Robson, Colin Miller, John Watkins, Paul Burns, Graham Hempsall, Wayne Manson, Steve Craig, Mike Devlin and Nigel Parrish. Front row, Ian Walmsley, Carl Petersen, Simon Butterfield, Ian O’Neill, John Woodhouse and Tony Wager Mike Vallance

Graham Hempsall, BAE Systems Maritime – Submarines’ head of operations support and capability, praised the recipients as he presented certificates at almost every level of the framework.

Mr Hempsall said: “Few other businesses have the programmes that we have.”

He added: “Development is very important to you, as individuals, to the business and to the community. It is fundamental to our future success.”

The Successor deterrent submarine programme presented a “fantastic opportunity”, but also a “massive challenge” in terms of ensuring the right capability; much of that leadership capability would have to come from within the business.

Mr Hempsall said: “Successor means the business prospers and it is a great opportunity for you to develop your careers – which is good for your families and the community.”

Praise was particularly sweet for radiography manager Ali Ives, who began the framework in 2007, with the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Certificate in Leadership and Management. Mr Ives is now on the verge of gaining Chartered Manager status through the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) – so he knows how much work was involved to gain the certificates.

He said: “When I started in 2007 I thought ‘why? I have been a team leader for a long time now.’ A short time along the journey, I realised what a powerful toolset I was being given, to help me develop as an individual and develop my team. I now realise I am calling on this toolset daily.”

Mr Ives was recently a member of a group of Maritime – Submarines CMI students who attended a CMI event at the House of Commons.

He said: “It was an amazing opportunity to talk to people in other businesses who have undertaken a similar learning journey to us and used it to improve their business. It made me realise how nationally recognised, and well respected, this qualification is.”

Alan Robson, learning and development manager, paid tribute to the support candidates had received from Furness College and Lancaster and Morecambe College, who deliver the programmes, to the NVQ assessment teams, both internal and external, and to the senior operations managers “without whose support the framework could not be run”.

The following qualifications have been awarded: 17 Institute of Leadership and Management Level 2 Certificates in Team Leading; 36 NVQ Level 3 Certificates in Leadership and Management; 17 CMI Level 5 Diplomas in Leadership and Management; and five CMI Chartered Manager status designations.

Also celebrated at the ceremony were: one Warwick University Post Experience Diploma; three NVQ Level 3 Certificates in Technical Support; and one EAL (the awarding body for the engineering industry) Level 3 Award in Assessing Competence.

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