Boat-builder floats skills idea.A LIVERPOOL boat builder is plotting a course to success -but revealed that a skills shortage could becalm be·calm tr.v. be·calmed, be·calm·ing, be·calms 1. To render motionless for lack of wind: "Across the harbor, a small sailing skiff, becalmed near some reeds, caught the breeze again" expansion plans. S Roberts Marine, based on a barge in Liverpool Marina, is nearing completion of two key jobs, the refit of a 50ft catamaran catamaran (kăt'əmərăn`), watercraft made up of two connected hulls or a single hull with two parallel keels. Originally used by the natives of Polynesia, the catamaran design was adopted by Western boat builders in the 19th cent. and the building of a 25ft aluminium sailing yacht, which is due to be launched in the marina within the next fortnight. Owner Steve Roberts set up the business in 1985 after five years building steel-hulled boats in Holland. His company employs five staff as boatbuilders/repairers, chandlers, riggers and marine surveyors. ``There is more work than we can cope with at the moment.'' But the expansion planned by Steve and his wife and business partner Els is being hampered by a lack of trained people. So they are seeking to set up training courses aimed at the marine leisure industry instead of the traditional heavy industrial shipbuilding sector. ``We are in talks with the Lairdside Foundation and Liverpool John Moores university Originally founded as a small mechanics institution (Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts) in 1825, the institution grew over the centuries by converging and amalgamating with different colleges and eventually became the Liverpool Polytechnic. about setting up a marine leisure-based course,''Steve said. CAPTION(S): LIFE OF PLEASURE: Steve Roberts says a skills shortage could halt expansion plans |
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