The Aerospace and Defence Industries
The UK’s aerospace industry is second only to
that of the United States. Within the UK, the South West region is
home to the largest and most diverse aerospace cluster.
There is a wide range of aerospace
capabilities in the region, both within businesses and within
universities. From advanced composite wing design, complex
component manufacture, helicopter design and product support to
developing capabilities for emerging markets such as unmanned air
vehicles and autonomous systems, the South West has extensive
expertise. This is supported by innovative university-based
research in areas such as aerodynamics, computational fluid
dynamics, composites, additive layer manufacturing and
metrology.
Business
A large number of aerospace prime contractors
are based in the region, including Airbus UK, Agusta Westland,
Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, GE Aviation and Thales. In addition,
QinetiQ has significant test and evaluation facilities at Boscombe
Down.
It is estimated that roughly 30% of the UK’s
aerospace industry is located in the South West and there are
approximately 900 supply chain companies serving this sector, many
of which are small-to-medium sized enterprises.
The aerospace industry employs 43,000 directly
in the region and it is estimated that a further 100,000 are
employed indirectly and investments in collaborative R&D over
the past five years total more than £20 million.
Regional expertise
A number of universities in the region –
Bristol, Bath, Exeter, and UWE - have significant aerospace,
engineering and manufacturing technology expertise. The MoD
logistic and procurement support organisation is located in Bristol
and employs a total of 600 people, the majority of whom are
graduate level (or above) engineers and scientists.