Riviera opens new apprentice training centre

Australian motor yacht builder Riviera has opened its own state-of-the-art apprentice training centre, The Riviera Academy of Excellence.

The boatbuilder says it is making a significant investment in the future of young Australians seeking a career in the marine industry.

Earlier this month (January 2024), Australia’s federal government reinstated both the trade boatbuilder and shipwright to the Australian apprenticeship priority list, as it looks to promote numbers in key jobs and tackle skills shortages nationwide.

The Riviera Academy, based within Riviera’s 16.8-hectare Gold Coast facility, will allow the motor yacht builder, in partnership with Major Training Group, to train 150 apprentices onsite across 10 individual trades, including composite technology, marine craft construction, diesel fitting and cabinetmaking.

The centre was officially opened on 12 January 2024 (ceremony pictured above) to coincide with the company’s 2024 apprentice sign-on day, which saw 52 new apprentices welcomed: 27 school-based and 25 full-time apprentices. The firm says this is the biggest training intake in its history.

Riviera notes that, reflecting the growing diverse and dynamic group of people seeking to become yacht builders, 12 of the 52-strong cohort are female.

“It’s always an exciting day for these young apprentices and their proud families,” says Keira Badke, Riviera apprentice and training manager.

“Our holistic training program offers strong support for our apprentices where we teach their chosen trade skills alongside coaching life skills to help nurture world-class people that will help build our world-class motor yachts.

“They really are the master craftsmen and women of the future, and from their very first day with Riviera, we want our apprentices to know that we will do all we can to help them be the best they can be.

“It’s often their first real working day, so naturally, they’re eager to commence learning their trade and, ultimately, begin to help us build our beautiful motor yachts.”

The academy was officially opened by senior training instructor Darren Kearns and instructor Justin Leigh-Smith, who both completed their apprenticeships in 1996 in marine craft construction.

Kearns and Leigh-Smith will be leading the training for the academy, which is a 680-square-metre facility comprising two fully workshops and two learning hubs, including a drafting room, offices and a meeting room.

The academy has partnered with power-tool maker Milwaukee to provide the latest equipment for use by the apprentices, including a modern air filtration system.

Riviera says it has trained over 400 tradespeople through its apprenticeship programme over the past 30 years, which involves partnerships with 37 schools in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales.

“I’m exceptionally proud that our Riviera team will be mentoring these talented new apprentices and giving them such a great opportunity,” says Rodney Longhurst, Riviera’s owner and a former carpenter and joinery apprentice. “It’s immensely rewarding for me, personally, to see our apprentices develop into such accomplished mature adults and great Australians, all with world leading boat building skills.”