Government And Aerospace Come Together To Deliver Growth Programme

A new government and aerospace group set up to tackle issues affecting the competitiveness of the sector - met for the first time today.

The group, the Aerospace Growth Partnership, will be jointly chaired by Mark Prisk, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, and Marcus Bryson, Chief Executive of GKN Aerospace and Chair of UK aerospace trade association ADS’s Civil Air Transport Board.

Business Minister Mark Prisk said: “Aerospace is a UK success that we should be very proud of. We are number one in Europe and number two in world with a 17% global market share.

“Aerospace companies in the UK directly employ around 100,000 highly skilled individuals and support many more jobs across the wider UK economy. Salaries in the sector are 36% above the manufacturing average.

“This group will bring aerospace and government together so we can take action to address barriers to growth, boost exports and grow the number of highly skilled jobs available in the UK.”

Chief Executive of GKN Marcus Bryson said: “If the UK is able to maintain its current global market share then aerospace will generate £352 billion over the next 20 years.

“However, we cannot take this for granted, as other nations are also seeking to expand their own aerospace industries.

“There are also fantastic opportunities for growth and the industry is determined to seize these.

“In doing so we will unlock the potential to develop more environmentally friendly aircraft. Our partnership with government is crucial to achieving this success and we welcome the commitment of BIS to this work.”

The Aerospace Growth Partnership will see government and industry working together to address the issues that affect UK competitiveness in the sector.

Its work will focus on ensuring that the UK remains an extremely attractive location for aerospace companies to carry out work both on current and future generations of civil aircraft.

(BMcN/GK)