Plymouth’s cutting-edge submarine manufacturer M Subs Ltd has seen annual turnover hit £10million – and is proving the industry is not exclusively for men by promoting a woman to the board.
The company, which is involved in lucrative but sensitive work for the UK and US navies, has made 30-year-old finance chief Laura Hudson a director.
She is a chartered accountant and managing director Brett Phaneuf said he’d be delighted to employ female engineers and designers too – but there is a shortage.
“People ask why we don’t employ women but it’s more why don’t schools create more female engineers?” he said. “We need engineers and would love to have more women here, a more diverse staff, but don’t get the applications.”
Miss Hudson joins the board at the firm, based at the Sisna Park Road business park in north Plymouth, at a time when it is “smashing it” and eyeing growth.
Mr Phaneuf said M Subs had a record £10million turnover in 2019 and has grown from 10 employees in 2010 to more than 60, with further jobs being created.
The company is recognised as the UK’s leading manufacturer of military submersibles and has already completed a manned platform, the Dry Combat Submersible (DCS), for the United States of America’s Special Forces Command. It completed successful trials in the waters around Plymouth in 2019.
“We are building four of these with Lockheed Martin for the US, that runs until 2022,” Mr Phaneuf said. “The first two are in service.”
M Subs has also spun out another firm called Marine AI, which has already become a success, working with tech giant IBM and looking to grow into its own base in another part of Plymouth.
The firm is working on an Extra Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (ELUUV) for the Ministry of Defence as part of its Defence and Security Accelerator programme.
“We are half way through phase one and ahead of schedule,” Mr Phaneuf said. “We will be starting sea trials in 2020 and then on to phase two for 18 months to two years, demonstrating advanced capability.”
And the company continues to grow with plans to acquire another building to be used alongside M Subs main 100m by 30m factory, which it owns, and a rented storage facility.
And Mr Phaneuf said the aim is for the workforce to top 100 people, provided he can find enough engineers, men or women.
“Gender is irrelevant when it comes to maths,” he said. “And I think this is a fun place to work.”
Miss Hudson joined M Subs in 2011 straight after completing an accountancy and finance degree at the University of Plymouth.
“I started as a finance and admin assistant and grown with the company,” she said.
Miss Hudson is determined to use her elevation to the board to highlight the opportunities for women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths), and said: “There are more than 60 people at M Subs and only four are women, all in finance or admin.
“We get no women applicants for engineering, even though we are constantly recruiting. I’m now looking to create a partnership with schools and employers to get girls to see engineering as an option.
“An engineering company is a very interesting place to work and I want to see a female engineer apply for a job here – and get it.”
