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The recording from this morning's session of the Northern Ireland Select Committee can be found here https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/205f6c19-4ad4-4d54-b4c3-a02b20625011 HARL was given an early mention.
He coughs a lot LSEO3, JW needs to present how much they have moved forward imho he was talking of 40 employees , shows the last time he visited the yard to see actually how many are employed there plus other services associated with the yard , he also only mentions the mod contract what about others again s visit wouldn’t go a miss imho
The other chap really pushes harl though 70% of gold awards in defence in Ireland. , sme needs the benefits
LSEO3 they need to get there hand in their pockets and support the defence industry now
How many times did he say the FSS assembly would be a "Big Challenge".... he's not wrong there. He also mentions that they keep mentioning the past....
Consuela ref 19.48 post I think if I recall you are referring to the witness from the RUSI. The witness from ADS Northern Ireland did not say that. Also they referred to the three Primes in Northern Ireland Spirit Aereosystems, Thales and HARL. The thrust of the evidence certainly from ADS Nortern Ireland is that work to the SMEs flows from the three primes. In short they were arguing for work to go to HARL.
Also while the RUSI representative did refer to FSS assembly as a big challenge he did not say that HARL would not succeed it comes down to the preparations for the contrract.
Witnesses definitely suggesting to go down the route of having 3 strategic partners, and then smaller sme's (due to red tape security clearances etc) to flow through these 3 key major approved primes instead; to achieve mod work.
not sure what the issues are exactly with the apprentice levy they mentioned.
Stokey, at that level, when someone repeatedly states "Big Challenge" you need to understand what that means... the message is very clear in those two words and he's being professional in his choice of words. He probably wanted to say car crash.
Consuela ref 09.31 post with your clear anti HARL views you would say that. The point made by Professor Taylor at around 1.18 does not support your interpretation in my view. His points were firstly that the capaicty may not be and HARL may not be able to recruit the numbers needed. This is not anything new it is in fact one of the items on thenrisk register. The second point is that due to the size of the contract and its importance MoD should in a supportive way monitor the delivery contract and be ready to give help if needed. I note the example that he gave was the Ajax where the MoD let the contract then just left the contractor to it. Clearly with the problems that Ajax has had that was the wrong approach.
Consuela, quick question, why are you so desperate for Harl to fail? I assume you would rather jobs and skills and the economic growth that flows from them went elsewhere rather than NI? Vietnam maybe? South Korea?
You are spot on stokey. re10:27
I wonder how the Defense Select comm. will react to this comm. final report as their opinions differ -(well the chair's anyway)
On the point of support from the MOD he kept mentioning what sounded like "DMS". Didn't catch what was meant by that. During repeated mentions of required support what he failed to mention was any support, technical or otherwise, from other partners of Team Resolute, namely Navantia. They would certainly be more experienced and up to speed with modern practices than maybe some of the current Harland and Wolff set-up. Experienced Greybeards and newly drafted in appointees aside. What did stick out was the comment that if the y get it wrong then they won't get another chance from the MOD. Basically, they only get one shot, so do not miss the chance to show, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo! :)
Here is this from one of the DUP MPs on the committee https://mydup.com/news/mod-must-maximise-potential-of-nis-defence-sector
Si_Derman ref 11.03 post may I most respectfully partially disagree with you in that Professor Taylor did make one brief mention of Navantia. I agree with you about the comment made by Professor Taylor that if HARL fails on FSS that would be the end for defence shipbuilding in Northern Ireland.
Well spotted Stokey , indeed the more they look at this the more I think this will become a reality and to the benefit of harl,
See fig. 2 The figures don't tally with the DUP but it tells the same story.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-regional-expenditure-statistics-with-industry-202223/mod-regional-expenditure-with-industry-202223#:~:text=MOD%20average%20expenditure%20per%20person,320%20reported%20in%202020%2F21.
Bubble2021 ref 11.13 post not sure which of my posts on this topic you were referring to but as there are only three prime contractors in Northern Ireland the call for a strategic partnerships would include of necessity HARL.
Stokey yes that is what I’m thinking
Yes Si -D :)
Vice Admiral Paul Marshall, the senior responsible officer of the FSS programme at the UK MoD, said the “mobilisation” of a 1,200-strong workforce was highlighted as a “key risk” from the outset.
“It is going to be challenging,” said Marshall, adding that it was not an “unnecessary risk” as there was “risk in any complex procurement”.
Generating the workforce
To achieve this, newly recruited workers at Harland & Wolff will travel to Cadiz for training, before returning to the Belfast and Appledore sites to begin FSS block construction. Trainers from Navantia would also be present at UK sites helping to continue to train and assist UK block manufacture.
We now have the staff in situ.
We've seen pics off H&W staff in Spain at Navantia and no doubt it is ongoing . Navantia will be onsite throughout build. This is nothing new it is a known calculated risk and I've seen nothing to suggest that the risk has increased.
https://www.naval-technology.com/features/generating-workforce-for-fss-programme-will-be-a-challenge-uk-officials/
Missed the mention of Navantia, Stokey. Thanks. TBH, was hard to stay completely focused for the whole thing. They do dither about getting to the point. And thanks for that reminder, K. Maybe pass it on to the Prof. who seemed, at times, maybe not up to speed with all the details. :)
fwiw, it was 79 employees and not 40. When they took over.
It's beyond hilarious the volume of "Speculation" on this board, totally driven by the lack of anything from JW. Pure ignorance at its finest. Finance, regardless if it comes or not changes nothing, ML, if it comes or not, I personally think the decision will be upheld, changes nothing.
JW is a disaster and you'll see, sadly at your expense.
Oops I forgot.... imho.
Yet you still seem to post almost on a daily, for what reason?
I think Lisa (Consuela) has just got it in for the CEO not HARL. That’s why she may wish to give the impression that the whole enterprise will fail. It’s personal.
Nobby, I'm not Lisa D. Fact. Yes, I've got a massive issue with JW for multiple reasons, fact. My absolute mission is to raise awareness of that clown, people don't like it. Simple.
It's more than personal.
When it all goes balls up at least I can say I tried.
Consuela ref 22.34 post It seems that unlike me you are unable to separate your opinion on JW with the ability of HARL to perform on their contracts. As far as I am aware other than the Saipem Contract HARL has never failed to complete a contract and HARL has had some rather, in my view, complex contracts. I have in mind the Jack Up Platform. You need to bear in mind that JW is not the one doing the actual work. Lookng at the quality of the senior managers and the contacts they bring to thier jobs I am reasonably confident that HARL wouold be able to complete their contracts.