Smulders UK is in discussions with the UK government over internships and apprenticeships that would increase the local labour and the company is especially focusing on skilled welders, who are a critical element in the production sequence. Majority of welders are local, but the company is currently also employing people from Europe since it could not find sufficient number of welders in the UK, according to Tom Coosemans, General Manager of Smulders UK.
One of the main reasons Smulders set up a UK facility is that in the near future there will be a lot of projects in the country and the company already has a vast track record of projects done in the UK, Coosemans said.
Smulders is now working, among others, on the foundations for the Aberdeen Bay offshore wind farm. In Belgium, the company is well ahead with the upper parts of the jackets and has recently started receiving material for the lower parts of the jackets. The suction buckets were expected to arrive at the end of June.
Find out more about Smulders, its UK business and projects, as well as the cooperation with Sif Group in our Expertise Hub interview, recorded at the beginning of June in London.
For more Expertise Hub interviews, visit Navingo’s Offshore WIND channel on Vimeo .