Martin Jay News

Martin J. Martin Jay “Marty” Canfield, 59, of Iola, Kansas, died Monday, November 2, 2015, at the Allen County Regional Hospital. Marty was born July 22, 1956, in Independence, Missouri. He served in the U.S. Navy for 11 years, and following his time in the service, he traveled working at nuclear power plants before becoming a field service engineer for Boiler Controls. Marty was in the marine engine room automation industry for more than 20 years servicing ships all over the world, working for G.R.Bowler, Inc. Marine & Industrial Controls, managing its VA shop for 13 years.

It appears that the trend toward consolidation and acquisition can be profitable, at least in the case of British shipbuilder Vosper Thornycroft Holdings Plc, which reported to a wire service today that it expects revenue and operating profits to rise by 15-20 percent in the current year, in large part due to acquisitions. The company reportedly expects a rise in pre-tax profit in the year to March 31. U.S.-based Griffin Services Inc. -- a military facilities manager -- was among the company's six acquisitions last year. In addition to financial news, the company said that Paul Lester, the group managing director of construction and infrastructure group Balfour Beatty Plc, would replace veteran Chief Executive Martin Jay on July 1.

Vosper Thornycroft Holdings Plc hopes to move its shipbuilding operations to Portsmouth from Southampton, including its work on the Royal Navy's new destroyer. The company said it had compared the merits of Portsmouth Naval Base and its current shipyard at Woolston, Southampton and that greater space at Portsmouth gave it clear advantages. "Portsmouth is our preferred location, but any move will be subject to successful negotiations with the Ministry of Defense for the lease of land and securing the short-term and long-term shipbuilding contracts that we need," Vosper chief executive Martin Jay said in a statement. Any short-term work would continue to be carried out at Woolston until 2003.

Vosper Thornycroft Holdings Plc said on Tuesday it may have to make up to 650 people redundant due to a shortage of short-term shipbuilding production work. Vosper said the redundancy notices would not take effect until early next year and would only come into force if the company was unable to secure additional work. "We are taking this action as a precautionary measure. No company can keep people employed indefinitely on maintenance and other temporary work without damaging its overall prospects," Chief Executive Martin Jay said in a statement. Vosper's current seven-ship contract for Royal Navy minehunters was now nearing an end, and was insufficient to provide work for the 1,200 workforce before the beginning of a new order, for Type 45 destroyers, announced three months ago.

Demonstrating a long-term commitment to its U.K. industrial base, Vosper Thornycroft is scheduled to start production next spring at a new, £40-million ($60-million) shipbuilding facility being created within the Portsmouth Naval Base. The technologically advanced, undercover yard will cut its teeth on the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyer program, constructing pre-outfitted blocks of up to 700-ton steelweight for ship assembly elsewhere in the U.K. at yards controlled by BAE Systems. Described as a shipbuilding factory, in keeping with investments in state-of-the-art production machinery and a layout and logistic arrangements conducive to high productivity…

Britain's Vosper Thorneycroft Plc, posting a two percent rise in year profits, said its diversification strategy was bearing fruit, with 55 percent of operating profits coming from non-shipbuilding activities. "With a strong order book and significant prospects across all divisions, we are well placed to continue to benefit from this strategy," Chief Executive Martin Jay said. The group reported pre-tax profits before goodwill of 36.3 million pounds ($51.49 million) in the year to March 31, 2001, up from 35.5 million last year and just above market forecasts. Shares in the group, which have outperformed the aerospace and defense sector by 22 percent in the past 12 months, were unchanged at 1,157-1/2 pence -- valuing it around 389 million pounds.

The Secretary of State for Defense announcement on the royal Navy's Type 45 destroyer was hailed as a boon for South Coast Shipbuilding, as the revised strategy means that Vosper Thornycroft (VT) will play a significant role in the Type 45 program, building sections for all ship in the class. "The strategy involves a commitment now to six ships of the planned class of up to 12 ships, doubling the number on order," said Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon. "The new strategy gives a welcome level of stability to our warship building industry. The initial batch is six vessels, and working with prime contractor BAE Systems the job will secure 650 employees in the VT shipbuilding division well into the next decade…

The British government said on Tuesday it would split a new order for Type 45 destroyers for the Royal Navy between BAE Systems and Vosper Thornycroft. But BAE, which had been trying to win the whole deal, was quick to say the delay before work began meant it would cut more than 1,000 jobs at shipyards in Scotland and northwest England. "We have developed a revised strategy which allocates work on the ships between the two shipbuilders for the whole class of Type 45 destroyers," a top U.K. government official said. Britain agreed a one billion pound ($1.4 billion) contract late last year for three of the destroyers and said then it envisaged building a fleet of up to 12 in all.

U.K. shipbuilder Vosper Thornycroft Holdings Plc has been selected as preferred bidder by the Ministry of Defense to supply two survey ships in a deal worth up to $150 million. "Our selection as preferred bidder is recognition of our expertise in the U.K. and overseas as a prime contractor," Chief Executive Martin Jay said in a statement. The 90-m vessels are due for delivery in 2002 and Vosper anticipates signing the contract by early summer. The deal was expected to include a 25-year support package for the vessels.

Vosper Thornycroft (VT) will progress plans for the construction of the Royal Navy’s new Type 45 destroyer following the signing later today of a legally binding agreement with the Prime Contractor BAE Systems. The initial contract for work on the first six platforms will be worth in excess of $285 million to VT with involvement in the design, production and support stages of the project. VT will build blocks for each of the six comprising the bow section, funnel and masts. These blocks, which will weigh about 700 tonnes, will be fully outfitted before leaving the Portsmouth facilities. Production of the first modules on the first-of-class Type 45, HMS Daring, is due to start in mid-2003 and production will continue until at least 2008.