Innovative North Devon defence manufacturer win multiple awards

Barnstaple defence manufacturer SEA is celebrating after picking up four accolades at the annual North Devon Manufacturing Association Awards.

The Pottington manufacturer is part of the Cohort plc Group and makes and maintains maritime defence technologies for the Royal Navy and overseas customers.

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At the recent NDMA awards held at the Pier House in Westward Ho! SEA was named Manufacturer of the Year as well as winning Team of the Year, Product of the Year and employee Callum Matthews won Outstanding Individual of the Year.

Above: Callum Matthews of Barnstaple-based SEA has been named Outstanding Individual of the Year at the North Devon Manufacturing Awards 2025. Credit: SEA

The honours follow an outstanding year for SEA, which upgraded and expanded its Barnstaple site, helping to secure more than 120 new North Devon jobs.

The company’s innovative Ancilia trainable decoy launcher to protect ships from missiles and torpedoes has also been selected for a £135million contract with the Ministry of Defence, which led to it being named Product of the Year.

SEA’s cell lead Callum Matthews took home the Outstanding Individual Award for his role in the transformation of SEA’s Array Hall and production team.

Above: SEA won Product of the Year for its Ancilia maritime defence system. Credit: SEA

Callum oversaw the upgrade of the hall, which included doubling the number of array benches and improving workflow. He also recruited and trained a largely new team, clearly demonstrating his proactive communication and problem-solving skills, all while overseeing the delivery of three major sonar array programmes.

SEA won the overall Manufacturer of the Year award, which is selected by the judges from all of the entries submitted into the NDMA, for its next-generation sonar system, KraitSense, which is designed and manufactured in Barnstaple.

The lightweight towed array sonar system developed by SEA delivers advanced underwater sensing capabilities for naval and maritime platforms, offering high-performance detection, tracking and classification of underwater threats.

Above: The SEA team celebrate winning the Manufacturer of the Year Award for its next-generation sonar system KraitSense. Credit: SEA

Richard Flitton, managing director of SEA said: “Winning the Product, Team and Manufacturer of the Year awards is a real testament to the hard work, creativity and dedication of our team at SEA.

“The Manufacturer of the Year award demonstrates the breadth and impact of our expertise, and is a success story for North Devon. We’re proud to be shaping the future of global maritime security, whilst continuing to provide high-technology jobs in the region.

“Callum’s award is a clear recognition of his technical and operational acumen which inspired and led a team through a key period of change at our Barnstaple site. Key for the business’ future growth, the programmes Callum played an instrumental role in will support SEA’s ongoing success and our reputation for reliability and excellence in undersea systems manufacturing.

“We have a long history of innovation and deep connection to North Devon and we’re proud to see our effort and ambition celebrated through the NDMA awards.”

Above: SEA also won Team of the Year for the work to develop and expand its Barnstaple site. Credit: SEA