- Over £280 million in
contracts awarded to maintain and
support 3,000 Navy, Army and defence boats, protecting UK
waters for years to come.
- Contracts back British businesses, creating more
than 100 skilled jobs across the UK,
from Scotland to Cornwall.
- Programme supports the reopening docks, showing
how defence is an engine for growth.
British businesses have been backed today,
with 100 skilled jobs created through new
contracts to support a fleet of
3,000 defence boats which are essential to
protecting the UK's waters.
The contracts, worth
£283.5 million, will maintain and support smaller
vessels used by the Royal
Navy, Army, Royal Fleet
Auxiliary, and MOD Police, such
as single‑person watercraft,
high‑speed craft, training vessels, and the
Royal Navy's P2000 small warships.
Awarded to Golden Arrow Marine, UK Docks, Griffon Marine Ltd,
Babcock and Serco following a competitive procurement
process, the contracts will run until 2033.
More than £250 million of the total value flows exclusively
through UK-based businesses, making defence an engine for
growth.
The programme will create
apprenticeships, engineering and
manufacturing roles in coastal and riverside communities
from Scotland to
Cornwall. It will directly enable the
reopening of docks in Teesside and
regeneration of key maritime sites. Activity will be centred on
major naval bases at
Portsmouth, Devonport and Clyde,
with additional work in Gibraltar.
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, MP,
said:
"We're backing British businesses, reopening docks and breathing
new life into maritime industries that have been the backbone of
our coastal towns for generations – proving once again that
Defence is an engine for growth.
"This is defence spending that works hard for the whole country.
These contracts will keep our critical boats ready and
operational, while putting over 100 skilled jobs into
communities - including apprenticeships for people just
starting their careers.”
The awards are structured to provide support for nine
distinct requirements covering capabilities from P2000
to Army boats. Six of these requirements
will be covered by three UK SMEs - Golden Arrow
Marine, UK Docks and Griffon Marine Ltd - and
two will go to Babcock and one to Serco.
Through the Defence Industrial strategy, the Ministry of Defence
committed to making defence an engine for growth - backing
British businesses, creating skilled jobs and
strengthening the industrial base that keeps our armed forces
operational. These contracts are an example of that in action,
ensuring that the investment needed to maintain our
Armed Forces' capability flows into British communities and
British businesses.
These contracts are backed by the largest sustained increase in
defence spending since the end of the Cold War – hitting 2.6% of
GDP from 2027 with £270 billion this Parliament.
