SOUTHAMPTON shipbuilder Vosper Thornycroft is among the front-runners to win the British manufacturing industry's equivalent of an Oscar.
The Woolston operation has been short-listed for Manufacturer of the Year and the Industrial Award for Management Excellence in the Manufacturing Industry Achievement Awards.
Award organisers say VT is among the final-ists for manufacturer of the year for the efficiency and continuous improvement that its workforce has demonstrated in servicing the Royal Navy.
But the shipbuilder is up against stiff competition from Bosch Thermo-technic in Worcester, Belfast's Short Brothers, Jaguar Cars from Coventry and Rolls Royce in Glasgow.
Meanwhile, VT's successful move to attracting support service and marine contracts after the decline in warship-building puts the company in the running for the hotly-contested management excellence award.
The winners will be announced at a gala dinner in London next month to be hosted by TV personality Angela Rippon.
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