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BMT Opens New Defence Services Subsidiary In Australia
16-Feb-2005
UK-based BMT Defence Services Ltd, is establishing a new subsidiary based in Melbourne, Australia. The new company is named BMT Defence Services (Australia) Pty Ltd and is now operational.
Last year the Australian Government announced a significant increase in spending in naval shipbuilding and support over the next decade. This launched the start of a challenging new naval construction programme and it is in this context that BMT Defence Services is expanding its international operations to provide the Australian Government and industry with independent naval design, engineering and support services.
Over the last 15 years, BMT Defence Services has established a strong track record in the UK and internationally as a key source of independent professional advice on naval procurement and support projects. The company has gained huge experience with major roles on all the UK’s major programmes including Type 45 destroyer, the new CVF aircraft carrier and the UK submarine programme. This capability has been recognised by the Australian Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) which has engaged BMT to support it during the current phase of the naval acquisition programme.
David Maclean, former Director of Future Platforms at BMT Defence Services in the UK, has been appointed Managing Director of the new company. Gordon MacDonald, an Australian national and former Head of Naval Systems at the DMO, has been appointed as Director, Technical and Operations. They will lead an initial team of seven employees, including both UK and Australian nationals.
Andrew Tyler, Managing Director of BMT Defence Services, commented: "This move marks a strategic long-term investment in Australia for BMT. We are looking to create strong partnerships with our clients and to establish a professional engineering consultancy which can deliver the levels of capability that the Australian Government is looking to develop in-country to support its naval acquisition programmes. We are very excited about the challenges these new opportunities will bring to our company and feel confident that we will create the kind of working environment which will benefit both our customers and staff."
BMT plans to build up its Melbourne-based company through the employment and professional development of local engineers and graduates combined with relocating staff from the UK to provide the mix of skills that will sustain the business long-term. Maintaining its philosophy of continuous learning and development, BMT will offer its UK-based employees opportunities to work on Australian-based projects and also offer similar opportunities for Australian nationals to work in UK and to gain experience from a wider base of projects within the company.