Any story about the future of Barrow is also a story about the future of its shipyard.


Few towns can have one employer which has such an influence as BAE Systems Submarines – and if this is the measure of Barrow’s fortunes then things should be looking bright.
The yard is currently engaged in building the final two of seven Astute-class nuclear submarines for the Royal Navy. In September 2021, the Ministry of Defence awarded BAE Systems an £85million contract to support early design and concept work on the Royal Navy’s next generation of submarines.

A further £31billion is set to be invested in delivering four Dreadnought class submarines, with the first due to enter service in the early 2030s.
The shipyard is also playing a key role in AUKUS, a project to equip Australia with its first fleet of nuclear subs. BAE intends to grow its workforce from 12,000 to 17,000 over the next 10 to 15 years.
Alongside this, Barrow has been awarded £16million from the government’s Levelling Up fund, which will be spent on regenerating the town centre.

This is in addition to £25million from the Towns Fund, supporting a raft of projects including a proposed new University of Cumbria campus on Barrow Island and the development of more than 800 homes at the Marina Village site near BAE Systems.
In the context of all this investment, Barrow might be expected to have the air of a boom town.  However, the pandemic was hard on its retailers, with Debenhams in Portland Walk shutting its doors in 2021 and neighbouring streets scattered with vacant units.

Yet BAE needs the town to be as attractive a place to live as possible.

In a bid to inject some life into the town centre, it bought 80,000 square feet of retail space in Portland Walk in January last year, including the Debenhams site.
While the former department store is being turned into a training hub for the many apprentices and graduates BAE will require, the rest of the space – consisting of the former Sweet Emporium shop, Body Shop and WH Smith – is already being used to showcase employers in the area.
A careers inspiration hub opened in the former Body Shop at the end of last year, with the neighbouring units set to be used for purposes such as supplier engagement, education outreach and to show what the community has to offer.
It has been deliberately left free of BAE branding and will be open for any organisation to use. Its work has already begun, with 14 local companies exhibiting at a careers fair in the unit in March.

BAE’s presence has already seen an increase in footfall, with much more to come when as many as 700 trainees a day begin using the training hub, which it is hoped will be open by early 2026.

BAE is also working with the government, Westmorland and Furness Council and other businesses in a partnership with the working title of Team Barrow, which is seeking another injection of funding to support development and regeneration.