UK Docks Marine Services has welcomed the publication this week of the UK Government’s Defence Investment Plan and said it will continue to invest in its facilities and capabilities to support the Armed Forces in the UK and overseas.
The Defence Investment Plan sets out £298 billion of defence investment over the next four years and lays out investment to support operational readiness, British jobs and businesses, and European security.
The plan lands at a time when defence work is already a major part of the company’s activity. UK Docks provides dry docks, afloat repair berths and specialist boat repair facilities throughout the UK, and delivers vessel maintenance, repair and refit, in-service support, upgrades, technical and logistical support, and through-life capability management for the marine, offshore and defence sectors.
The company’s support to the Royal Navy and Ministry of Defence spans the UK and overseas.
In 2024, UK Docks officially took over the worldwide support of five Royal Navy River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) under a contract worth £250 million over eight years. And, in March 2026, the company also won contracts worth more than £80 million to service and maintain 194 Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels, Vahana workboats and Ministry of Defence police craft, with the work managed from Victoria Quay in Gosport and delivered between Gosport and the UK Docks Mashfords facility in Cremyll, Cornwall.
Jonathan Wilson, managing director of UK Docks Marine Services welcomes publication of the Defence Investment Plan.
Jonathan Wilson, managing director of UK Docks Marine Services, said: “It is good to see the Defence Investment Plan published this week and to have a clearer statement of the Government’s investment priorities for defence. UK Docks has built its defence work by supporting Royal Navy and Ministry of Defence contracts in the UK and overseas. We will continue to invest in our facilities, our people and our capacity so that we can further support the Armed Forces as they protect our country around the globe.”
The company operates from sites in South Shields, Teesside, Gosport, Victoria Quay and Cremyll. With its Gosport and Cremyll sites sitting opposite HMNB Portsmouth and Plymouth. The company has also expanded its Teesside operation recently with two additional dry docks, a move that fully reopened the former Smith’s Dockyard estate under one company and triggered a multi-million-pound investment and modernisation by UK Docks who are now the largest, family-owned and operated shipyard in the UK.
Stephen Lee, operations director at UK Docks, said: “Our teams work across our ship and boatyards across the UK, and support ships when they are deployed overseas. That includes maintenance, repair, operational enhancements and technical support from our own facilities, all backed by a team of fleet managers and engineers who can be deployed worldwide and by regional partners where vessels are operating.
“The overseas support model is already established in UK Docks’ defence work. The River Class OPVs are deployed continually overseas, and we liaise with our network of regional partners and shipyards in the South Atlantic, North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Indo-Asia Pacific to keep them operating.”
Recent defence contracts won by UK Docks also provide stability to marine industry jobs, skills and investment, with the March 2026 'Boats In Service Support’ (BISS) contracts directly safeguarding 42 full-time jobs and creating 18 more across management and the general workforce. Those contracts support activity in Gosport, Cremyll and the Northeast, while the River Class contract safeguards over 100 jobs and associated work for more than 250 supply-chain companies.
PAC 24 boats being worked on in UK Docks Gosport facility as part of the 2026 BISS contract awarded by the Ministry of Defence.
Ben Mason, business development director at UK Docks, said: “The Government and Defence organisations need capacity and capability in the right places, and they need long-term support partners who can grow and flex with demand. Our facilities around the country play a direct role in supporting significant numbers of MoD vessels. We will keep developing the business, building partnerships and reinvesting in the facilities that will help us to continue to support defence work over the long term.
“The release of the DIP means investment in our people and facilities remains central to our business in building a resilient maritime support capability. Since announcing the Teesside expansion, we have already invested over £3m in modernising the site, upgrading the facilities and expanding the team to support many of the services we already provide.
“As a company, we are committed to investing in modern infrastructure, supporting high-skilled local employment, delivering reliable and responsive services to the Royal Navy and commercial clients, and strengthening partnerships across the maritime community. That investment is across all our sites, with more investment already committed with the landmark boat shed expansion in Gosport and recent acquisition of an additional 3.8-acre site in South Shields".
The Defence Investment Plan itself says the Government expects nearly 60,000 new defence-related jobs by 2029/30 compared with 2023/24 and wants to secure British investment, jobs, factories, skills and apprenticeships from defence spending.
For UK Docks, that focus matches the way the company has expanded in recent years, through contract delivery, site investment and continued growth across its facilities on the South Coast and in the Northeast of England.