John Craggs is a specialist and experienced shipyard and industry consultant with a particular focus on production and business issues. He has practical shipyard management experience and has managed several shipyard development projects including some of the leading South Korean shipyards. He is a qualified naval architect and chartered engineer. He has worked extensively on benchmarking and competitiveness studies and for the international shipbuilding industry on market research and ship and shipyard cost structure studies. He is the managing director of First

Marine International.

Malcolm Bell has qualifications in naval architecture and began his career in the design department of one of the UK's leading shipbuilders. He transferred to consultancy in 1971 and has travelled widely developing and introducing new technologies into international shipyards. Malcolm has been central to the implementation and development of advanced production engineering practices and productivity improvement programmes in the UK, Portugal, India, South Korea, Malaysia and the US. As a principal consultant with First Marine, Malcolm specialises in pre-production organisation and technology. He has spent the last four years participating in teams developing a new modus operandi for pre-production areas designed to take shipyard efficiency

forward in the 21st Century.

Damien Bloor is a qualified naval architect and chartered engineer who has held senior positions and been responsible for operational management in shipyards in the UK and USA. He has wide experience as a consultant and is currently managing projects in benchmarking, competitiveness and e-commerce. He has broad-based industry knowledge and has worked extensively building warships and other high performance craft in the UK. In the US, Damien was responsible for overseeing the design and construction of Corvettes for the Royal Thai Navy and played a major role in completing the vessels on time and under budget. He has also developed ground-breaking analysis methods to assist the European Commission in understanding the cost structures of South Korean and other Far East shipyards. He is a principal consultant with First

Marine International.

Frank Bywater is a qualified naval architect with an MBA. Beginning his career in UK shipbuilding he has worked for over 25 years in leading European shipyards, the last 20 years in key senior management positions. As director of planning at Flensburger Schiffbau he has played a central role in the strategic and operative development since 1992. In addition, he has carried out consultancy work in the areas of performance improvement, organisation, planning and material control for several shipyards in North America, Europe and the Middle East. He joined First Marine

as a principal consultant in early 2005.

Paul Stott is a qualified naval architect who has held line management positions in shipyards and has an extensive background in international market research. He is a chartered engineer and a member of the chartered institute of marketing. He is accredited with being one of the leading forecasters of maritime activity and has compiled numerous forecasts relating to the shipbuilding, ship repair and marine equipment industries. With marine consultancy experience in more than twenty-five countries, he has been responsible for the development of a wide range of strategies for companies and industries around the world. Paul specialises in the economic and strategic links between shipyards and their markets and has developed innovative tools for the objective analysis of marine businesses and targeting of customers. He is a principal consultant and

manages the office in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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