Cammell Laird is to ramp up its operations in the energy sector with the appointment of a new managing director.

Jonathan Brown joins the energy division of the famous Birkenhead UK shipyard and engineering services company from Rolls Royce where he led its nuclear new build and projects group. Brown has previously worked for BNFL, Serco and AWE.

Cammell Laird CEO John Syvret CBE said Brown would be charged with expanding the company’s drive to grow across nuclear, renewables and the oil and gas markets.

'Cammell Laird has a long-term plan to diversify into the energy markets and we are pleased that Jonathan has joined us to help spearhead our operations,' he said. 'Our aim is to become one of the prime contractors in Britain serving the energy industry. The programme to build 10 new nuclear power plants around the UK is a £100 billion ($123.24 billion) opportunity with decades of work. It is an excellent fit for our workforce, which has transferable skills, and our extensive engineering facilities. By growing across the energy sectors Cammell Laird can strengthen its position as a key driver of job and wealth creation for our region supporting supply chain businesses across the Northern Powerhouse and wider UK. We believe we could win billions of pounds worth of work and create thousands of jobs over a 20 to 30 year period in nuclear alone.'

Syvret said Cammell Laird’s prime offering is its capability to build modules of up to 5000 tonnes.

'Using our facilities and stable workforce of around 1200 skilled workers, in full time and sub-contractor positions, we are able to solve a big headache for industry,' he said. 'We can build large modules off-site and then sail them from our River Mersey location anywhere in the UK, Europe and further afield. The alternative of sourcing and retaining a temporary skilled workforce to undertake conventional construction on-site is very expensive, time-consuming and difficult.