Building a brighter future for Barrow

Few towns can have one employer which has such an influence as BAE Systems Submarines. Devonshire Dock Hall dominates the skyline of Barrow, just as BAE dominates the business landscape.

If BAE Systems is the measure of Barrow’s fortunes then things should be looking bright.

The yard is currently engaged in building the final two of seven Astute-class nuclear submarines for the Royal Navy. In September 2021, the Ministry of Defence awarded BAE Systems an £85m contract to support early design and concept work on the Royal Navy’s next generation of submarines. A further £31bn is set to be invested in delivering four Dreadnought class submarines with the first due to enter service in the early 2030s.

The shipyard is also playing a key role in AUKUS, a project to equip Australia with its first fleet of nuclear subs. BAE intends to grow its workforce from 12,000 to 17,000 over the next 10 to 15 years, in a town with a population of around 55,000 according to the 2021 census.

Alongside this, Barrow has been awarded £16m from the government’s Levelling Up fund which will be spent on regenerating the town centre. This is in addition to £25m from the Towns Fund, supporting a raft of projects including a proposed new University of Cumbria campus on Barrow Island and the development of more than 800 homes at the Marina Village site near BAE Systems.

In the context of all this investment, Barrow might be expected to have the air of a boom town. However, the pandemic was hard on its retailers, with the Debenhams department store in Portland Walk shutting its doors in 2021 and neighbouring streets scattered with vacant units. Yet BAE is keenly aware that its mutual existence with Barrow cuts both ways and, as future workforce director Janet Garner says, it needs the town to be as attractive a place to live as possible.

"We started looking at what needs to be true not just for us as a business, but in the town, for us to do more, do it quicker, be more productive, more effective,” she says.

In a bid to inject some life into the town centre, BAE bought 80,000 square feet of retail space in Portland Walk in January last year, including the Debenhams site.

While the former department store is being turned into a training hub for the many apprentices and graduates BAE will require, the rest of the space - consisting of the former Sweet Emporium shop, Body Shop and WH Smith - is already being used to showcase employers in the area.

A careers inspiration hub opened in the former Body Shop at the end of last year, with the neighbouring units set to be used for purposes such as supplier engagement, education outreach and to show what the community has to offer.

It has been deliberately left free of BAE branding and will be open for any organisation to use. Its work has already begun, with 14 local companies exhibiting at a careers fair in the unit in March.

Janet says BAE’s presence has already seen an increase in footfall, with much more to come when as many as 700 trainees a day begin using the training hub, which it is hoped will be open by early 2026.

BAE is also working with the government, Westmorland and Furness Council and other businesses in a partnership with the working title of Team Barrow, which is seeking another injection of funding to support development and regeneration.

Phil Drane, programme director at Westmorland and Furness Council, says it is still unclear how much this investment may be. "We're wanting a long-term commitment from government to say if this change is going to be meaningful and real things are going to be delivered that impact people's lives over the long term, then there needs to be a long-term commitment to not only investment but a commitment on being involved in delivering this stuff locally,” says Phil.

Areas tipped for potential investment include master planning to attract property developers to build new homes, road and rail infrastructure, education and skills and health and community groups.

Beyond any money that may be forthcoming from the government, Barrow-born Jayne Moorby - who is head of marketing at Ulverston-based Oxley Group - says collaborative working between businesses and other organisations already has the potential to benefit them all.

While the Portland Walk hub is one example of this, there is also the potential for working together on recruitment in other ways, for example by BAE referring applicants it cannot take on to other organisations. This year it is set to recruit 900 people out of 4,000 applications.

"Not every person that applies to BAE is getting a job there," says Jayne.

"How do we then redirect some of those people into supply chain opportunities?

"We've got to all collectively work together on this bigger piece of great place to live, great place to work because we can never attract a workforce into the area if we don't have a great cultural offering, a nice town centre, quality housing and good quality education. So that's where the whole skills piece and the Team Barrow piece are absolutely hand in glove."

One person who has a dual interest in the future of BAE and the town’s high street offer is Mohammed Ali, co-owner of cafe the Industry Kitchen, on Risedale Road, which opened in 2021.

Mohammed, who is originally from Kent, first came to BAE in 2016 and now works as a contract project manager on the AUKUS programme. He started the cafe alongside his partner Ellie Nicholson and her brother Mitchell. Despite having no background in hospitality, they were determined to open somewhere in Barrow which reflected the kind of cafe dining they enjoyed in cities elsewhere.

"We all just love food," says Mohammed. "We were quite happy to travel to Manchester for an evening to get nice food and we're really into that cafe and brunch culture.

“We thought we’d give it a go ourselves, more as a hobby than anything else to start with really. It turns out there are a lot of other people in the local area that like the same kind of thing.”

"Barrow's always been divided in terms of wealth and poverty,” says Mohammed.

“It's got some of the more deprived areas but with areas where there are people earning really decent salaries.

“So the town centre, in theory, should be doing well. But no one's spending the money. I think that's the difficult part, how do you get people to spend money? I think that's what we're trying to do with BAE and Portland Walk.”

Mohammed, who employs 11 people at the café, says he would like to see more independent shops and cafes flourish in the town. "Sometimes we get asked whether we worry that people are going to copy us, but that would be great,” he says.

“It would be great to have other places like us that are popping up to add a bit more variety to the area. The thing about living here for the past eight years is it feels like it's always been on the cusp of developing into something brilliant. It just needs that extra oomph thrown behind it."

At Underwater Diving Services, based at Ramsden Dock, the shipyard is one customer helping the business grow.

First incorporated in 1991, current managing director John Williamson completed a purchase of the company from the former directors in September last year.

Originally from Derby, John began his diving career with the Royal Engineers.

He was seriously hurt when he was crushed during an accident in Bosnia in 1996, but overcame his injuries to become a qualified commercial diver, working around the country and ultimately joining Underwater Diving Services as operations manager in 2016.

The company works with organisations including BAE, Westmorland and Furness Council, the Port of Barrow and United Utilities. The work involves large amounts of cleaning, inspections and maintenance, such as checking the condition of bridges and culverts on behalf of the local authority during high rainfall.

Its work for BAE involves cleaning the outside of submarines ready for use or helping put equipment in place which allows work to be carried out on the submerged boats.

Meanwhile, in the port it helps with activities such as dredging and the maintenance and inspection of vessels.

Elsewhere, it undertakes a variety of tasks in United Utilities’ reservoirs and treatment works.

Since the buyout John has been focused on employing staff rather than relying on contractors and they now have a team of 18 with two more due to join.

"We are actually exponentially growing and taking on more people and securing more employment,” says John.

Its diving teams consists of the diver, plus another five to support them and keep them safe while they are under water.

"It's not always glamorous,” says John.

“It can be mundane work. You're going to be in cold water.  It takes a special sort of person with good motivation. But whatever job you go into the diver is having a real impact on that project and there is a whole team of people supporting them.

“Everything from the equipment maintenance, to the safety around the site, to the attitude of the person going in to do that has to come together correctly. It is all about the team. Everybody's got to connect together in the right way for it to succeed.

“My impetus now is to maintain the work that we’ve got and keep these people employed and adapt.

“Every job can throw up something new and different technology, so it’s about putting people through training and staying up to date.”

Elsewhere, Joe Elliot has grown his business Furness Tiles Supplies to import and distribute supplies across the UK from all over the world.

Joe started his career as a tiler and then began selling his own tiles from a container at the back of Barrow AFC’s stadium.

“I had no training but I always had the gift of the gab and I talked myself and my friend into this kitchen contract,” says Joe.

“The first six months were a baptism of fire because I’d never even put a tile on a wall. But I got around it and it all started from there.”

Joe stopped fitting tiles 12 years ago to concentrate on retail, and now sells tiles, flooring and bathrooms from a showroom on Park Road.

Two years ago he also began a wholesale business, from a warehouse and yard adjacent to the retail premises.

The business now employs nine staff in total.

"Wholesale is the big growth sector of the business now,” says Joe.

“Because we import direct from all the major factories, we have the ability to supply the bespoke products, even bathroom furniture to local people. We can basically get any product from any factory in the world.

“We sell to tile shops all over the country because we buy so many and we’re one of the biggest dealers in the North West.

“We import containers directly from India, Spain, Italy and Poland; everywhere really. We supply to small bathroom shops or even big national distributors. We've got some really good relationships with the factories that have enabled us to get in at the right price.”

Joe is planning to travel to India later this year to check out the tile trade in person.

"The tile industry is always a great indicator of where world industry is going because it's predominantly based on cheap raw material, labour and cheap energy. It's all just clay and heat,” he says.

“The world of industry now is moving from China over to India and there's 1,000 tile factories in India now.”

In the future he would like to invest in commercial property in the town.

“I think Barrow is the perfect place because it’s going through a boom,” he says.

“I think it’s hit its low point but now I can see green shoots in the town. I think the place will be in a totally different scenario in 10 years’ time.”