Brexit immigration rule changes have provided both opportunity and major headaches. Significant shortages of qualified UK resources and the inability to utilise EU personnel on UK domestic voyages have created a significant issue for us and many of our clients.

The strong demand for qualified seafarers of all nationalities has caused an increase in general wage expectations across the market. This picture is echoed across many industries.

2021 brings a significant milestone: the 40th Anniversary of Clyde Marine Recruitment Ltd.

Four decades of crewing have seen significant changes in how the industry operates and communicates. We have seen the transition from Telex to Fax, to Email, and now to fully digital. In the last decade, we have witnessed the biggest changes with Clyde Marine Recruitment Ltd.

Clyde Marine Recruitment Ltd was the embryonic part of the Clyde Group, which my father grew, and eventually sold to the management team in 2008, when it employed more than 150 staff being involved in travel, training, and both seagoing/shore-based recruitment.

In 2011, I returned Clyde Marine Recruitment Ltd to family ownership and embarked on a major period of restructuring and investment. The Polish branch office was opened, we consolidated our UK operations to Glasgow and have significantly increased our client base.

The new team has embraced our major investment in a digital process, which has significantly improved productivity, speed, and seafarer reach. All three of our offices – Glasgow, Gdynia, and Riga, have received positive feedback on our new systems through day-to-day business and often during client audits.

Further enhancement of the digital features will provide even better service and processes in the coming months. With the enthusiasm of the CMR team across all the offices we look forward to the years and challenges ahead.