A sense of confidence bounces off the expanse of tarmac at BVT Surface Fleet shipyard in Govan. HMS Dragon sails motionlessly on her berth as pin sized engineers install technology fit for a spaceship while news of the £4bn Royal Navy carrier contract sinks in. “It’s our golden egg,” beams Jamie Webster, the genial Trade Union Convener at the site, “and it will secure shipbuilding here until at least 2012, probably beyond.” The course of recent shipbuilding history at Govan is jagged with triumph and disaster; two near closures and 6 changes in management since 1965. Why then, has the Clydeside shipyard become such a Glasgow success story?
Jamie Webster, an intrinsic part of the Govan Yard was a young apprentice when the yard was sold it to the Norwegian shipbuilder, Kavaerner, in 1988. The process of privatisation was “cold and calculating” but, as Webster recalls, did the workforce a huge service by banning the practice of demarcation, and bringing in a multi skilling agreement to compel staff to work together more effectively. "They took us to a new level of excellence”.
As HMS Dragon, one of five T45 Royal Navy destroyers currently on order, awaits her completion, blocks of her sister ships lie in the warehouse like giant airfix pieces waiting to be glued together. At half past twelve on a Friday afternoon, the haunting boom of the shift siren signals the end of the working week. Men thread towards the front gate with holdalls slung over their shoulders, knowing their foreseeable future is secure. Managers are, however, ever mindful of the need to keep work on order beyond the Carrier project and this means exceeding expectations on current orders. “We want people to keep saying we’re brilliant,” smiles Webster serenely with the steely self-confidence of a consummate Govaner.
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