Blog post: PSS visit to Southampton

Following the Port Skills Group meeting in Southampton in June, PSS skills lead, Angela Ward visited members DP World Southampton and Red Funnel before heading to the Seawork exhibition to meet members exhibiting there.

At DP World Southampton, Angela met with senior learning and development business partner, Leanne Gibson, and engineering and operations training team leader, Chris Adams to hear more about the development programmes and technical training offered within the organisation. The importance of apprenticeships and early careers programmes was discussed and the opportunity to get involved in the work of the PSS port skills group highlighted. A tour of DP World Southampton followed including the training centre where training and refresher courses such as mooring, lashing and forklift driving are delivered internally.

At Red Funnel, Angela met with shore operations manager, Tareck Ahmed and head of risk, safety and compliance, Jon Stage for a site tour. Angela heard about the challenges faced, particularly when working so closely with the public and the ongoing improvements to reduce risks. Discussions took place around increasing the number of apprenticeships offered across the business and the new training programmes that will be available to all employees shortly.

The Southampton visit ended at the Seawork exhibition. Angela met existing members including SeaRegs Training and Inland and Coastal Marina Systems, networked with potential new members and attended the UK Harbour Masters’ Association annual general meeting.

Getting out and meeting members is an important part of PSS’s work, both improving the understanding of members’ needs and helping members get the most from their membership. If you would like PSS to visit you, please drop us a line.