Babcock International Group has announced plans to create nearly 1,500 new apprentice and graduate roles across 2024 and 2025, aiming to strengthen the UK’s defence and engineering workforce, according to a press release.
The initiative follows a record intake of over 400 apprentices this year, with a further 500 set to join Babcock through its newly launched recruitment programme. The effort will also see 253 graduate roles filled in 2025, building on the 285 graduates who joined the company in September.
In addition to these roles, Babcock has introduced an innovative pre-apprenticeship scheme near its Devonport site in Plymouth and at HMNB Clyde. This year-long programme offers an alternative pathway into the organisation, with successful participants guaranteed an interview for a full apprenticeship.
The new recruits will support critical defence sector trades, including welding and mechanical and electrical fitting, bolstering the company’s technical and engineering capabilities. Babcock’s operations, which deliver through-life support to international defence customers, play a vital role in sustaining the UK’s Armed Forces and its allies.
“These 1,500 exciting, new early career roles will support the UK’s defence by providing the next generation of defence and engineering talent,” said David Lockwood, Babcock’s CEO, in the press release. “This will be our largest ever combined intake and underlines Babcock’s commitment to invest in the skills that will significantly underpin the UK’s sovereign defence capability for decades to come.”
Lockwood emphasised the opportunities for new recruits, adding, “We look forward to welcoming the best and brightest recruits into our team and can promise them a career that makes a difference in the communities where they live, and a critical role in international defence.”
Applications for Babcock’s 2025 apprentice intake are now open, offering young professionals a chance to contribute to projects that directly impact UK defence and engineering innovation. More information can be found on the company’s early careers website.
Great news..again. Bae and Babcock both looking forward.
Does that mean somewhere someone has given them the heads up for the batch 2 Type 31s or Type 32s? Great news if the SDR confirms that. God knows we needs escorts desperately.
Hopefully and it would certainly make sense.
I don’t see that, even though I’d like to. Babcock probably needs apprentices as much for its UK maintenance and worldwide businesses. Perhaps if the sites had included Rosyth, I might have leapt to the conclusion. As it stands, I think we are still waiting. If MOD can’t make up their minds maybe they’ll buy another few OPVs while cogitating. I can think of worse results.
Yes absolutely Batch 3 OPV to replace the Batch 1s could push the 32s cost envelope to the right to help find budget, potentially killing two birds with one stone.
Agreed. Hard to see Babcock having made this commitment unless either a substantial export order is in prospect, and/or they have quietly received a nod that the SDR is likely to approve a T32/T31B2 order. The similar BAES announcement a few days ago was biased heavily towards subs and AUKUS, but it does imply that they are reasonably confident that Norway will go with the T26, and that SDR will recommend progressing the T83 project over a T45 life extension which would result in a serious workload gap at its Clyde yards in the mid/late 2030’s. Of course these kind of grand announcements are great for gaining high profile positive coverage in the mass circulation media immediately, whilst if they are not actually realised over the next few years only niche and specialist publications are likely to remember and notice.
Does that mean somewhere someone has given them the heads up for the batch 2 Type 31s or Type 32s? Great news if the SDR confirms that. God knows we need escorts desperately.
Fitted fully with weapons and sensors would help too.
But I wouldn’t say no to an austere fit just to get the hulls built.
You can bolt canister launch and drop VLS into pre prepared places….you cannot attach weapons to thin air.
We could even bodge some of the weapon spaces into cargo carrying areas to create a sort of Absalon type ship to replace the River 2s. They carry all of their weapons as containers amidships, so if they had a crane big enough to self-load, you could upgrade pretty quickly if necessary with PODS, or operate as a littoral/patrol frigate using the amidships space and the crane to carry lots and lots of boats.
Whilst I get your point but you can’t create weapon systems out of thin air either. In the event that things get more dicey we would be in the queue with a lot of other nations as each weapon has parts from dozens of countries, not all would be in support of any operation we were involved in.
The whole fitted for not with is assuming that a war can be seen years in advance and orders can be placed in plenty of time, which based on history is highly unlikely.
Whilst I would like more hulls, I think the money is better spent arming the ones we have properly and then if there is spare cash on extra hulls.
Good news I am very glad to have done an apprenticeship instead of university, my employer is paying for my HNC and I can progress onto degree if I would like. It will take me 8 years from GCSE level to degree two more than my university peers, however I will have eared 200k in the meantime and own a home.
Thinking the future of Rosyth, the qatar navy are currently fitting out a variant of the San Geiogeo class, this is 4m longer than type 31 and 1m wider beam so could be built in the hall. It is armed with 16 sylver for aster and a 76mm.
Maybe it could fulfill the MRSS role as a pocket LPD, however is the perfect platform for containerised weapons with acres of deck space.
Take what the Qataris have done and build some ourselves and only change what is absolutely necessary e.g sylver MK41 or CAMM. No WIBBIs allow in the construction.
A WIBBI (wouldn’t it be better if) is someone who proposes change for the sake of change. If it looks stupid but works, it isn’t stupid.