The Port of Dover is the UK’s busiest international ferry port and a vital gateway for the movement of people and trade. It’s been a busy and exciting few years with more to come – from preparing for the launch of the £40 million+ Entry Exit System at the UK border later this year to delivering on ambitious plans to become the UK’s most seamless, sustainable and tech-enabled port.

This isn’t just a place where you board the ferry to France, it’s a successful cargo port, a bustling marina, and a busy destination for cruise operators.  There’s also the Dover Regatta each July, boosting the district’s visitor economy further. The Port of Dover handles £144bn of trade per year and welcomes over 9.3 million passengers: an important local employer making a major contribution to the UK’s economy.

It’s also a key talent generator. The Port of Dover works closely with further and higher education partners and training providers to onboard and upskill employees, providing them with the skills they need and every opportunity to thrive. Maintaining and growing the skills required to deliver a complex and diverse operation.

Since launching its revamped apprenticeship programme in 2021, 12 apprentices have successfully completed their training, with an impressive 75% retention rate. That’s why the Port of Dover is the perfect fit to be the headline sponsor for the East Kent Apprenticeships Awards (EKAA) 2025, an organisation that is setting the standard for what apprenticeships can achieve for businesses and for their prospective employees.

We caught up with Marisa George, Learning and Development Partner at the Port of Dover to find out more about the work they do around apprenticeships and why events like EKAA are so important in bringing attention to this vital career pathway.

 

How do apprenticeships fit with the Port of Dover’s ambitions for the future?

When we look to the future at Port of Dover, we need to consider our past.  Since the business was established, those key changes that have been made along the way reflect the constant innovation and technology advancement along with demand in the way that people want to trade and travel.  From timber ships to new hybrid technology. That’s why we to think ahead, making sure that we have the right skilled and competent people in place to support the Port as we build the skills that we need for our future, and Apprenticeships are at the heart of that.  Giving structured training, and qualifications to our talent pipeline.

 

How do you plan your apprenticeship programme?

When we look at apprenticeships at Port of Dover, we always start with workforce planning. We’re looking at what we need now and also looking to our workforce requirements for the next 1,3, 5 years. That includes considering what the next innovation coming along might be. Is there a new process that needs to be learned? Are there any resource challenges because it’s difficult to recruit for those positions? Can we see any potential retirements coming up in critical roles? There’s a lot to consider. Once we go through that workforce planning exercise, we always look to see if there are any existing apprenticeship standards available that we can work with that can fill the workforce needs.

 

How do you go about seeking apprenticeship training opportunities as an employer?

We consult the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) website. They are the organisation that works with employers to shape skills training in England, focusing on apprenticeships, T-Levels and higher technical education. We’ll also work with local colleges and different training providers that we’ve worked with in the past to see if there’s a programme available to fill any gap that we’ve identified.   And don’t forget that Apprenticeships can be a new person joining at an early career stage or existing workers using an apprenticeship to upskill.

 

Can you give any examples where apprenticeships have helped to grow people within the business?

We had someone back in 2021 that started on the junior Energy Manager apprenticeship standard.  They’re now working with us as an utilities technician, getting involved in building management systems and checking water usage and consumption. It’s part of our commitment to growing people internally through our apprenticeship programme.

We also have had people use the Apprenticeships as an upskill – with them becoming competent technicians when they have completed end point assessment – and they have now been promoted, Adding value to the team with their increased knowledge and appreciation of the investment.

Apprenticeships help us to meet any recruitment gaps that may occur in future and also enable us to utilise the levy to fund the qualifications.

 

The Port of Dover is a ‘trailblazer’ employer. What does this mean?

As a ‘trailblazer’ employer we’re involved in writing or reviewing different standards for apprenticeships. It means we have greater freedom influence the content of Apprenticeships to meet the Port’s needs – whilst also considering the needs of other users of the Apprenticeship standards.  We are currently reviewing a standard for a Port Marine Operations Officer Level 4.  Being a trailblazer employer has meant that we can develop the standard, in partnership with other Ports and Industry specialist organisations. We have used the previous version of the apprenticeship standard,  with an Apprentice completing the course in March 2024 – She is now a Vessel Traffic Services  (VTS) Officer. VTS Officers are very difficult to recruit but thanks to the development of this standard, it should help in terms of future recruitment.

 

Are there challenges in providing training to build the skills you need at the Port of Dover?

It’s often a case of shopping around to find an apprenticeship standard and trying to match it to your job role. Sometimes that can be quite difficult. For example, we’ve got a lifting technician level 2 standard that we’re using to support training operators of our mobile harbour and road cranes.  There isn’t an apprenticeship for harbour crane operations in the training market, and there’s not enough numbers to write or run a course.  With the lifting technician standard, the skills taught within it are transferable and so we’ve been able to offer the apprenticeship and deliver on the job training.  Sometimes you’ve got to make it work, and there is lots of learning along the way!

 

How long have you been supporting apprenticeships at the Port of Dover?

I joined in 2019. I’d always been passionate about apprentices and could see the potential, having worked with Apprenticeship programmes in the past.

When I joined the Port had a trickle of what you might call traditional apprenticeships like electrical, mechanical and business administration. We’d offer training and hope that once they completed their course, they would stay with us or come back one day. That didn’t always happen.

Our vision now is how can we secure talent into the business. The apprenticeship programme is a big part of that talent pipeline.

I’m still in contact with many Apprentices that I recruited and supported in the early 2000s!  And they are all doing amazing things.  I a so proud of them all.

 

How important is skills development for the Port of Dover?

It is vital.

We’ve got 450 people working at the Port of Dover and employed by us, with something around 240 different job titles. There’s so many different career pathways – from commercial and financial professionals to our own police force, from construction specialists to seafarers and stevedores. There’s the a wide skill base of engineers – from civil engineers, mechanical engineers and electrical engineers to instrumentation engineers.

We’ve got a massive property portfolio, our own a reservoir, a beach – and that’s before you consider the ferry, cargo and cruise business. There’s so many career options at the port, including apprenticeships with a further six vacancies available from this September.

We’ve been really lucky with the apprentices that have come through our programme to date and have made some good recruitment decisions. That’s been helped, in part, by initiatives like our mentoring programme where apprentices get supported by someone outside their team.

 

How vital are apprenticeships to skills development at the port?

Apprenticeships are key, not only in terms of skills but in culture development as well. We want to be a good employer, adopting best practice and we believe in investing in our people and the local community.

Apprenticeships are also a responsible thing to do. We recruit from the local area. When you draw your little circle around the Port, that’s our demography.  That’s where our people will come from.  We’ve got quite a lot of sea around us so we’re restricted in terms of where we can recruit from. So, it’s important for us as a larger employer to support our community in terms of opportunities – from placements to apprenticeships.

Tell us more about the work you do with local further education colleges in the area?

We work closely with East Kent College Group including attending careers fairs and careers days. We give curriculum-based presentations to for specific courses, host mock interview sessions and Q&A sessions. We also do offer a lot of work experience placement with both local colleges and schools. We’ll explain what we do, the fantastic bits of plant and kit that we work on, that we fix, that we maintain and highlight the projects we’ve got coming up. We’ll also talk about working safely on site and the importance of planning and management.   We link the course to the career pathways at the Port, and how what is covered in the classroom is transferred into the workplace.

Tell us about the new Young People Support Network initiative?

We have lots of consultation with the local community, but we miss  hearing the voice of young people – and that’s something we want to address with our Young People Support Network. We’re not waiting for young people to come to us. We’re going to them direct, including youth groups, voluntary groups and organisations such as Air Force cadets

These are young people who are already proactive and spending time with their evenings doing something they think is important or care about or because they want to improve their CV or career development later on. We’ll be giving them the chance to ask questions about the Port of Dover and the opportunity to get more involved with us.

It’s all part of our commitment to engaging with young people from the Dover community – showcasing opportunities and inspiring the next generation.

 

How many apprenticeships have been provided by Port of Dover since 2021 and any success stories that stand out for you?

The figure stands at 29 currently across a number of disciplines across port operations including engineering, procurement, operations and marketing.  They’re all amazing but one apprentice that I’m really proud of is  Kenny, a Junior Energy Manager Apprentice Level 3.  We’re currently looking at his next step up. There isn’t an apprenticeship standard that’s right for him as it’s so unique in terms of what he’s going to be doing. So, we’re writing an internal programme just for him, underpinned by an HNC qualification. Another is Simone, a Marketing Apprentice, she has recently completed her level 4 apprenticeship, after joining us on a level 3 programme in 2021.  She has shined and has helped me to coordinate our Apprentice group, bringing them together for group networking and learning events, and organising our National Apprentice Award Campaigns.

What makes a good apprentice in your view?

That’s a really hard question as they are all so different. I think they just want to do well and care about the career path they have chosen!

In the last year, the following apprentices have successfully completed their programmes.

✅ Samuel Milstead – Project Controls Technician, Level 3.

✅ James Baser – Maintenance Operations Engineering Technician, Level 3.

✅ Jordon Wood – Maintenance Operations Engineering Technician, Level 3.

✅ Jack Corbo – Maintenance Operations Engineering Technician, Level 3.

✅ Ruairi Wheaton – Construction Site Supervisor, Level 4.

✅ Laura Shearer – Port Marine Operations Officer, Level 4.

✅ Simone Groombridge – Marketing Executive, Level 4

✅ Megan Flockton – Business Administrator, Level 2

We’re incredibly proud that all but one of them are now employed at the Port of Dover, either in permanent roles or progressing to higher-level apprenticeships.

 

What are you hoping to highlight through sponsoring the East Kent Apprenticeship Awards?

We’re not always loud enough about celebrating the good people things that we do at the Port, so sponsoring the EKAAs is part of our desire to show that we believe in apprentices at the Port of Dover and are committed to our local community.  These awards give us a platform to reach an audience that we wouldn’t normally have access to in the day-to-day operation of a busy port.

It’s also good to be able to highlight the challenges that employers like us in East Kent face in terms of competing with London in specialist areas such as engineering where attracting enough applicants can be challenging.  Being able to engage with people early on at events like this, is really important in terms of getting more people to stay locally.

 

What are you most looking forward to at the EKAAs 2025?

It’s always interesting to hear people’s journeys and their stories, because not everyone gets it easy, and people do have to work that little bit harder at times. It’s wonderful seeing people shine.  We’re looking forward to hearing the experience of apprentices and employers across East Kent and learning from them, so that we can continue to improve. There’s always more we can do.

 

What do you say to employers who might be considering hiring apprentices or offering an apprenticeship programme?

I would say it’s a no brainer really.  It’s a chance to get a structured training program with a provider that can deliver the technical training for you. All you’ve got to do is get a really good person in and train them up on the job and support them along the way, and at the end of it, you can have some capable, competent, committed people on your team. Also, don’t to be narrow minded in thinking that this is all about young people and school leavers coming in. It’s so much more than that. Apprenticeship standards can support your existing team too, elevating levels of service, delivery and the skills of your people.

 

What more do apprenticeships bring to the business?

It’s good to remember that apprenticeships are not just about gaining skills. They’re about growth, opportunity and giving back too. It’s a two-way thing. We get some excellent new members of the team, fill gaps in our operation and build for the future. They give back to us in other ways too. It’s really rewarding having apprentices working with you because with the new knowledge they gain, their enthusiasm and passion, it lifts the rest of the team tand gives them a fresh challenge, in a healthy way, when sharing their experiences.