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What a wonderful evening at the National Maritime SME Awards 2023
A true showcase of the talent and diversity in the UK maritime sector.
From the heart of Govan to the banks of the Thames blue skills and innovation provide a pathway to employment in a net zero future
Duke Voyagers Shipyard have chosen Barclays Eagle Labs at Discovery Park, Sandwich for their new office space.
Being based amongst like minded entrepreneurs and innovators is the perfect environment to develop our business plans.
The recreational boat and yacht industry generates yearly revenue of over £1billion and despite any financial fears, it has the fastest economic growth within UK manufacturing (Ibis world 2022).
As a start-up, the management team at Duke Voyagers Shipyard found itself part of this map, and thought about how to achieve their core mission statement: …. “to contribute to a shared sustainable future” ….and what that might look like.
What came out of this reflective learning was that in order to effectively deliver these ambitions to the wider community and stakeholders, all aspects of their culture would need to reflect those core values and shared environmental concerns, about climate security and risk.
Importantly, how does Duke Voyager Shipyard operate as an employer to build a ground up company – and with growth that starts with their employees?
For any long-term growth they aspire to in creating net zero innovation in the maritime sector they need a talented and committed staff team. Otherwise they couldn’t operate.
So how can they demonstrate their commitment to staff and uphold values for change that would be agile, innovative and build their brand and ideals.
Looking towards the future, DVS embraces the talent and freshness of those who are still learning. As an SME, innovation is their guiding star. They find new ways to grow where incumbent companies can’t, or won’t, consider.
DVS decided to base themselves where innovation and new ideas are being generated and incubated, and where knowledge is shared. They consider that this sort of educational environment offers a pathway to growth and learning. They have also sought to build partnerships with universities in order to co-produce work through their talent pools and internship programmes.
With the rise of AI, DVS can see how technology doesn’t progress in a linear way. It happens exponentially. They can also see that the maritime industry is responding and moving along on the same tide as the industry begins to embrace the opportunities that technology presents.
Like many startups, DVS operates on a tight budget. Hiring full-time employees is costly but by co-working within a Higher Education framework, they have opened up opportunities. They looked to innovative ways to source talent. They have created partnerships with UEL Career Zone, as well as the University of Kent and Teeside University. In this way they’ve been able to access funding and support to grow their company.
The benefit of such partnerships to small companies is clear – and works both ways. The universities’ measurable and timebound Intern Schemes provide an affordable alternative to hiring staff for new companies, whilst providing valuable and creative workplace opportunities for students. Certainly, Interns were excited to be part of the DVS staff team, knowing that their ideas would not only be valued, but would collectively help to build a shared future through collaboration.
Harnessing the winds of change, DVS looked to build awareness of their business across social media platforms and took on a copywriter from UEL. They brought not only technical knowledge, but a vibrant voice to reach new audiences and access new channels and networks to share and grow net zero awareness.
For their intern, Francine Curran, the journey as an employee was a two-fold experience. She immediately felt valued and “was welcomed into a warm and supportive environment, where the opportunity to grow both personally and professionally was prioritised.”
During her internship, Francine was delighted to see her impact and contribution on the project. She felt “able to witness the DVS’s vision first hand….to connect local communities, business and educational institutions, alongside obtaining an environmental goal.” Secondly, Francine writes “what stood out to me most about my experience was the conscientious investment of time into my personal development. The team’s eagerness to share their knowledge – as well as their willingness to learn from my own.”
Here it is clear to see the value of a shared common goal and how it’s the underlying values on sustainable living for all, which underpins the core ethics played out in a real world scenario.
Working alongside an educational environment also helped broaden DVS’s knowledge base and offered the opportunity to scale up their model by working with international students who brought the global viewpoint. This is something that is not usually experienced by small SME’s on their projects.
Alireza from Iran worked with CEO Tony Duke and used the latest design technology to draw up architectural plans for The Duke Voyager Shipyard. Reflecting on his journey, Alireza said “I learned tons of new things in this company and I got more familiar with sustainable design which I think would be helpful in my career… it was a huge experience for me.”
In the 18 months since its inception DVS has continued to grow, nurture new talent, and incubate fresh ideas in sustainability and maritime innovation. The knowledge gained from the University of Kent built new models of understanding about processes of production and alternatives to traditional maritime construction methods.
Speaking to the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce, CEO Tony Duke commented that “it’s clear that interns provided the company with a wealth of benefits. They brought fresh ideas that opened us up to innovation and new platforms of online engagement and digital interaction. In return the interns learned valuable lessons for future job roles.
In conclusion, it’s clear that innovation across industry can work hand in hand with innovation in office culture – and is essential for growth and resilience. It starts with communication of ideas, a willingness to chart unknown waters, navigate new horizons and recruit like minded individuals willing to join the adventure and be part of the journey.
As a small company, Duke Voyager Shipyard works towards building sustainable shipping but they can see that their contribution also forms part of a bigger map of like-minded companies across all industries of land, air and sea that are coming together to be part of this new world. With new growth comes new life and rebirth for our planet and our citizens.
https://www.ibisworld.com/united-kingdom/market-size/recreational-boat-yacht-building/
https://www.kentinvictachamber.co.uk/members-blog/internships-tapping-into-potential/
Why mobile phone technologies provide solutions and empowerment.
When Duke Voyages Shipyard invited me to become involved in documenting their internship program and the experiences of their interns, it opened an opportunity for me as a filmmaker to try new ways to capture their journey.
After meeting with the CEO of DVS it became clear that to effectively fulfil the brief my approach to filming and interviewing would need to evolve to both effectively record the intern experience but not impact their internship or studies with excessive filming.
I decided to take an approach to evidence gathering that I had been using within community settings, where a camera set up on a tripod with a crew was too formulated and created unnessacry tension or anxiety, especially for students whose first language may not be English.
Using a mobile phone based solution both was easy to manage, quick to set up and review both for video and photos, and also was less intimidating for interns.
After initially meeting the interns and explaining my process it was time for our first set of photos and videos for both the companies website but also for promotional and marketing use to raise the profile and USP of the company and its mission to create carbon netural yachts.
Though using a mobile solution for both video and radio microphones for sound, the experience of being filmed and recorded was not as straightforward as imagined.
Being asked to review their experiences as the project went along brought challenges of scheduling, expectation, time needed to prepare answers to interview questions we had designed to best capture a flavour of their learning and practical hands on experience as an Intern.
I worked with two interns over the duration of the internships, one from an Architectural background and one from a Humanities degree.
The ability to create an atmosphere of collaboration helped immensely and the interns were encouraged to be involved in the editing process if they chose too.
Over the course of my time at UEL we produced 6 videos for the company, document the internship experience from start through to finish and even managed to attend the Career Zones first annual intern awards 2023 held at the Stratford UEL campus.
It was here during the event that one of our videos about the employer experience of being an intern was shown to a packed auditorium of students, staff and alumni.
Looking over the videos we produced you can watch them and immediately get a sense of both the student, their University experience and the benefit to them both personally and professionally from taking part in the UEL internship scheme. This means of data gathering is often over looked for a more quantitative methodology but I would argue that these visual texts can be equally as quantitative and help build a more holistically focus approach that encompasses and recognises both the journey and the travel they are both experiential and qualitative.
https://youtube.com/@tonyduke8074
The main Lesson we learned was that if you can make it a win-win for the intern to take part in the Media activities/filming/information gathering then it’s so much easier to get their buy in for the added commitment of having their journey filmed/photographed and documented.
As a company Having filmed material and photographic documentation of any project work is an under appreciated commodity that adds to any project evaluation, its also useful material for critical review and valuable content for the future and as an archive, that potentially is equally cultural, educational and has a future commercial value?
In thinking about creating your own media content for the company it may be less of commissioning in a costly outside production company but tweaking or using your employees current skill sets to better productivity.
It needn’t cost a lot either, just willing, a clear strategy and a desire to make change happen.
Therefore for new companies or those wanting to test the waters, there are many free training courses online to help companies understand how to go about creating mobile film and video content and building simple yet effective evidence gathering using filmed mobile phone content, it is not only a cost effective solution but benefits the company with up to date and immediate material for an audience to engage with and respond to.
More information:
Suggested resources/providers and bite sized free/low cost online mobile filmmaking courses, plus YouTube is a great source for inspiration and tutorials.
Content produced for Duke Voyagers Shipyard videos was acquired using Apple iPhones and edited in iMovie on a mobile phone both are capable of outputting snd creating broadcast and print friendly digital content.
Sound was recorded using Bluetooth generic wireless microphones for mobile phones costing under £25 and Adobe podcast a free app to enhance dialogue based recorded audio. The benefit of clean sound without interruptions or distractions that may lead viewers to switch channels can not be stressed enough, as more users will engage in mobile devices in a variety of situations it’s more vital that your content captures their curiosity.
https://www.screenskills.com/media/3580/top-tips-for-filming-with-a-phone.pdf
Edgar Wright | Filmmaking Online Course | BBC Maestro | BBC Maestro
https://collab.sundance.org/catalog/Mobile-Filmmaking-Presented-by-Xiaomi-On-Demand
https://www.movophoto.com/blogs/movo-photo-blog/mobile-filmmaking
Author Justin Aggett- https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-aggett-714123160
In February 2023, we welcomed two new interns aboard the team here at the
Duke Voyagers Shipyard.
Our first intern, Alireza Pourmamihamamlou, obtained his Bachelor’s degree in
Architecture in his home country of Iran. Following this, he completed a Masters
Degree in Construction Engineering Management at UEL, graduating in
September 2022.
Alireza has always had a keen interest in architecture. As a child he would
admire buildings, longing to know how they had been constructed. For Alireza
there is a real thrill in being able to turn designs and ideas into a physical
reality. He loves that these creations will live on in societies to come.
In his 4 month long placement at the DVS, Alireza is working closely with
company director, Tony Duke. At present, Alireza is modelling the elevations of a
low carbon shipyard which will be used to build the prototype yacht “Molly D”.
Alireza is working on both the interior and exterior views of the shipyard,
finding the balance between sustainable practicality and aesthetics.
Though working on the design is a first for Alireza, he is eager to take on the
new challenge and diversify his skill set. On his new role at the DVS, Alireza
commented:
“It is an exciting new experience. In the past, I have worked on commercial and
residential buildings. This job is completely different! I expect it to be
challenging but I am very excited to gain experience in the marine sector.”
The demands of the building industry are changing rapidly in the UK, with the
dawning of significant net- zero policies. In 2019, the World Green Building
Council reported that buildings were responsible for 39% of global energy
related carbon emissions. The aim for 2050, is to ensure that the embodied and
operational carbon of all infrastructures will be net-zero.
Prior to working at the DVS, Alireza had not worked for a company that had
sustainability at its core. It was this that attracted Alireza to the role. He hopes to
utilise the skills developed at the DVS to influence his future career. Alireza
commented:
“I look forward to delivering high quality work to help the DVS achieve their
mission. Changing the way we build is very important for the sake of our planet.
The work of the DVS proves that these changes are possible. I hope to establish
myself as a prominent individual in the architectural industry.”
Francine Curran is the second intern to join us at the DVS. She is in her final
year of education at UEL, working towards a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. She
has joined the team as our copywriter.
“A massive part of my course is about studying the challenges facing local,
national and global communities. And rightly, our environment one of the
greatest concerns at the moment. My new role here allows me to combine my
various aspects of sociology with my love of writing.”
Francine has always enjoyed fictional writing, often producing stories and
poems in her free time. However, after gaining some previous experience in the
marketing sector, she discovered a passion for communication and copywriting
on a corporate scale.
She sought to gain further experience in creative opportunities and on
discovering the internship on offer at the DVS, she was attracted to the ethics
and innovative spirit of the company.
“With a project like the DVS, raising awareness is so important. In the
technological age that we live in, digital communication is our new currency. I
genuinely believe that the DVS are doing excellent work in proving that a
greener future is very much possible! It fills me with pride to play a part in
sharing their story”
Here at the DVS, Francine is responsible for creating various pieces of content,
such as social media posts, blogs and articles. She regularly conducts research
for her copy and for wider company purposes. So far, Francine has been
regularly reporting the developments of our company as well as raising
awareness for our mission through both internal and external channels.
On her new role, Francine said:
“I have really enjoyed working for the DVS. With the company being in an early
stage, it have provided me with a good amount of freedom in the work that I
produce. I’ve had an awful lot to learn about the maritime industry but it’s
always good to have a new challenge”
In her aspirations for the future, Francine wants to continue working in copy
and content creation. Through working for the DVS, she hopes to demonstrate
her skills as a writer and establish the Duke Voyager’s Shipyard as pioneers in
net-zero sailing.
Big thank you to Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce for the opportunity to engage with the University of Kent in the Net Zero Pathway to Change project.
#KentInvictaChamber #netzero #innovation #UniversityofKent
We are pleased to announce the appointment of David Grocott in the position of Non-Executive Director, David brings over 25 years of business experience to the sustainable start-up.
David began his career in the technology and telecommunication industries, working in various positions for BT and Deutsche Bank.
During the recent lockdown, David completed the Financial Times Non-Executive Director programme. He hopes to utilise the new knowledge gained in this programme as well as his rich history of experience, to support the DVS in achieving their mission.
David has a keen interest in charitable pursuits, a factor that played a key role in his uptake of this new position. David has also acted as Chair and Director of a Residents Management Company (not for profit) on a large London Docklands housing development for many years.
David’s new role as non-executive director will see him providing governance to the company overall. Moreover, David will also explore possible funding streams for the company.
The Duke Voyagers Shipyard is based at The University of East London’s Dockland Campus. It was here, that David met the Director of the DVS, Tony Duke. It was a mutual interest in sailing that connected the pair and they soon found common ground on net zero challenges for the maritime industry.
” I’ve always been interested in improving the way things are built or operated and in how we can reduce our impact on the planet and live more sustainably. It concerns me that many green technologies are not as green as they first seem! We can do better!”
The Duke Voyagers Shipyard is currently developing a carbon neutral ocean sailing yacht utilising the latest developments in hull composites, manufacturing processes and sustainable power generation.
The start-up has thoroughly considered all aspects of Environmental and Social Governance, ensuring that their execution will be transparent and rigorous. It was the genuine ecological mission of the DVS, that encouraged David to join the company.
On visions for the future David commented:
“It is our vision at the DVS that the company will provide benefits to the wider community in terms of training, apprenticeships and employment by providing pathways to increase access in to blue skills for the maritime sector.”
For more information about David Crocott (click here)
With a vision to use sustainable materials and innovations within the yacht building industry to make the future greener and carbon neutral. The Duke Voyager’s Shipyard, a sustainable start-up working in collaboration with the University of Kent to transform the yacht building industry was nominated in the Net Zero 50 List.
The University of Kent became involved in the project earlier this year after Tony Duke attended a net zero workshop organised by the University and funded by the Government’s Community Renewal Fund as part of a wider programme in partnership with the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce
The reception was hosted by Lord Jim Knight who welcomed nominees to the House of Lords and outlined the challenges faced in reaching our climate goals.
Dr Mattie Yeta, freshly returned from COP27 provided insight into current global efforts and the potential for sustainable growth across sectors.
Prof Adam Beaumont (Eden Project) presented the People’s Choice Award to the UK Schools Sustainability Network, winner of the online vote from the Net Zero 50 list with over 5000 votes.
Dr Robert Barker, a Lecturer in Chemistry and Forensic Science at the University, is working with the Shipyard to explore sustainable alternatives to traditional yacht components and systems and manufacturing processes. This will include identifying suitable manufacturing sites and partners to ensure the yacht lifecycle -from production and operation to disposal- amounts to net zero carbon emissions.
Tony Duke said, “Working with Rob and his PhD student Alix Blissett has really pushed forward our green vision. The specialist knowledge and expertise available through the University’s Innovation programme will keep us on track to start the yacht build in 2023.”
The Net Zero Deep Dive Training Programme consisted of a series of workshops led by experts within the University of Kent, designed to change hearts and minds on what does ‘net-zero’ mean and what are the challenges – from technological, to moral, to achieving it. Qualifying businesses who attended the workshops were able to apply for up to £5,000 to continue to work with Kent academics to meet their net zero goals.
#greenyacht #netzero #sustainablesailing #netzerosailing #netzeroyacht #zerocarbonyacth #zercarbonsailing #greensailng
Any new venture should always begin with a deep and thorough dive into research – if only to establish the right questions to ask.
I began with ‘The Elements of Boat Strength‘ by Dave Gerr, which introduced me to scantling rules and provided a detailed comparison between steel, aluminium, wood epoxy and glass fibre for hull and deck construction. I did have some experience with glass fibre from my work in automotive restoration and knew that its strength and durability had transformed the boating industry making it possible to mass produce hull, deck and other components.
This led to my first question.
“Could we build a yacht’s hull and deck out of natural fibre composite, as a low carbon alternative to glass fibre construction?”
To begin answering this question, my son and I headed down to Plymouth university for the Green Tech Boat Show.
Here we spoke with like-minded academics and pioneering businesses which reinforced my belief that a carbon neutral, luxury sailing yacht could contribute to a greener future for the marine sector.
Having a background in digital technology, I quickly reverted to type and started trawling the net finding a plethora of information and software solutions from naval architecture to innovations in bio polymer fibre and smart resins.
The next challenge was to find the perfect yacht design. Following weeks of research, I decided to go with a proven design as my starting point: the New York 65, designed by Bruce Roberts.
This design has a history of ocean voyages covering thousands of miles including the Northwest Passage from the North Atlantic, north of Canada’s Baffin Island, in the east to the Beaufort Sea, north of the U.S. state of Alaska, in the west.
Designed in 1993, this is a 30 year old design but with a low carbon composite hull, solar power, electric engine and stunning interior design it will become a lean, green 65’ luxury sailing yacht, the MollyD.
An invitation via Medway Growth Hub led me to Net Zero workshops delivered by Dr Robert Barker and Chloe Skingle at the University of Kent.
The workshops were exactly what I needed to define the challenges.
1. Source low carbon alternatives to fibreglass as the main composite for hull and deck construction.
2. Explore sustainable energy sources for manufacturing process.
3. Design vacuum infusion delivery system to minimise material waste.
4. Identify suitable manufacturing site locations to minimise transportation to launch site.
Following the workshops I had the tools to develop a Life Cycle Assessment.
Having gained a grant from the Community Renewal Fund to collaborate with the University of Kent the work now starts to overcome the challenges and decarbonise the yacht manufacturing process from beginning to end of use.