UK defence shipbuilder integrating four historic yards post-acquisition
Navantia UK operates four shipbuilding and repair facilities across the UK following its January 2025 acquisition of Harland & Wolff. The tech stack—SAP (MM, FICO, PS, S/4HANA), Oracle, CAD tools (AutoCAD, SolidWorks, CATIA, NX), and simulation (ANSYS, ABAQUS)—reflects a capital-intensive, regulated manufacturing operation. Hiring velocity is accelerating with 128 open roles (68 posted in the last 30 days), concentrated in engineering and manufacturing, indicating rapid integration and capacity scaling across the four acquired sites.
Notable leadership hires: Commercial Lead, Engineering Head, Habitation Lead
Navantia UK is a subsidiary of Spain's Navantia SA (a state-owned naval shipbuilder with 300+ years of history) established in 2022 to support UK defence, security, and energy transition programs. The company operates four facilities: Belfast, Appledore, Methil, and Arnish, acquired from Harland & Wolff in January 2025. The workforce spans 1,001–5,000 employees across engineering, manufacturing, operations, and finance. Active projects include naval vessel electrical systems design, ship repair strategy, ISO 14001 accreditation, and SAP implementation. Revenue generation depends on high-value defence contracting bids, with internal focus on production optimization, multi-site alignment, and compliance with UK and Northern Ireland tax and defence procurement regulations.
SAP (MM, FICO, PS, S/4HANA) for ERP; AutoCAD, SolidWorks, CATIA, NX, and Rhino for CAD; ANSYS, ABAQUS, and NASTRAN for simulation; Oracle for databases; Primavera P6 and Microsoft Project for project management.
Four sites: Belfast, Appledore, Methil, and Arnish, all in the United Kingdom. These were acquired as part of the Harland & Wolff takeover completed in January 2025.
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