UK DOCKS’ founder Harry Wilson says he views the MBE medal he received in the King’s Birthday Honours List as a sign that the importance of marine services to the UK does not go unnoticed.
Last week, the 82-year-old travelled to Windsor Castle, where his wife, Audrey, and sons Chris, Gary and Jonathan - all now directors of the company - were among those watching as Her Royal Highness, the Princess Anne presented him with his medal and congratulated Harry on his achievements.
The Wilsons at Windsor Castle, from l to r, Chris, Audrey, Harry, Gary and Jonathan.
"It was definitely one of the highlights of my life and I enjoyed the chance to have a talk to Princess Anne,” Harry said.
“But I have to say that I was proud I was there representing marine services and engineering, among all the other people being honoured, and it’s really pleasing that our industry is recognised alongside the achievements of others.”
“Marine services make a huge and important contribution to our country and I think the way the world is going, that contribution is only going to increase in the years ahead,” he said.
Harry’s medal was presented in recognition of Harry’s service to the marine industry over the decades and acknowledged his efforts to revive boat repair and dockyards at a time when the sector seemed to be in terminal decline in this country.
Harry Wilson MBE and wife Audrey at Windsor Castle
He launched the company from a single slipway in 1992 and went on to revive marine services on Tyneside, Teesside and on the south coast at Gosport in Portsmouth and Cremyll in Cornwall.
A decade ago, UK Docks successfully re-opened the former Smith’s Docks on the River Tees and that helped drive the company to new levels - gaining major Royal Navy contracts while servicing a host of other maritime vessels from its two dry docks.
Having established itself as a leading name in the UK’s ship repair industry, UK Docks has moved increasingly into servicing Ministry of Defence contracts for the Royal Navy.
Those efforts culminated last year with the winning of a £250m contract to service and maintain five Batch 2 Offshore Patrol vessels across the globe.
And Harry reckons there is much more to come from the company.
“I’m very excited about the future of UK Docks because, in many ways, we might only just have put the foundations in place,” he said.
“My three lads are not people who believe in standing still, and the company has a long way to go yet. What has been achieved so far might just be the launch pad for greater things ahead.”
Now employing more than 200 people, as well as supporting many supply chain jobs, one of the key driving forces behind the growth of UK Docks was Harry’s desire to regenerate areas of industrial decline and give something back to the community, including creating jobs.
He said: "The object of the exercise, after founding UK Docks and being able to make a living out of it, was to genuinely put something back into the ship repair industry.
"I'd had a pretty decent life from it, not necessarily an easy one, but a decent one and I believed in the industry and its potential and wanted to see it do well.
"I'm pleased to see that UK Docks has been able to grow over the years.
"I've been lucky to have three sons who have all been interested in the business and have been able to take the company from strength to strength over the years and ensured that it has grown from local to regional to national and now a global concern.”
Harry’s son, Jonathan, UK Docks’ managing director, said: "We're obviously immensely proud of him - he's a one-off.
"It was Harry who had this vision of developing ship repair and re-opening yards at a time when so many others were closing and he's been proven right in his decision-making time after time.
"He's got a great reputation in our industry and he's responsible for what this company has grown into today.
"It's also, I think, a recognition of his charity work over the years because he has strongly backed a number of important causes and, in particular, has been a long-time supporter of South Shields Sea Cadets."