In a Q&A session, Aerospace Wales Forum’s director, Rachael Blackburn discusses the trade association’s role in supporting all its member companies operating in Wales’s burgeoning aerospace and defence sector.

Aerospace Wales has had some exciting developments in the last year - including the launch of Space Wales, an offshoot of Aerospace Wales with 60 member companies. We recognise that there are many opportunities for traditional aerospace and defence companies to diversify into the space sector and benefit from its aspirations in the UK. 

In the UK aerospace sector, Wales has around 10% of the overall UK workforce and arguably punches above its weight. When it comes to the space sector, Wales has around 1% of the overall UK workforce so there is a huge opportunity for growth in what is itself a significant growth sector. The UK space sector has previously set a target of achieving a 10% share of the predicted £400 billion per annum global space market in 2030. A 5% share for Wales would equate to £2bn per year, and we believe this is a realisable target that we should aim to achieve and work to exceed with companies and organisations in Wales.

During the pandemic, Aerospace Wales established the MRO Hub, a collaboration of 10 companies working together to enhance the MRO offering in Wales as this is recognised as an important sector for the Welsh economy. The Aerospace Wales MRO Hub offers a unique through-life service for commercial, defence and business aviation, providing a combination of services to keep an aircraft available, airworthy and economically viable throughout its whole lifecycle.

The MRO Hub covers the aviation industry value chain, encompassing aircraft leasing, maintenance and recycling to component manufacture, parts repair, ground support equipment, tooling and business aviation.

In December 2021 we held the second Aerospace Wales Showcase Expo with over 400 delegates attending a mini conference with Airbus, BAE Systems, DASA, and Thales. We hosted over 1,800 meet the buyer appointments and had 100 exhibitors at the one-day event. We also recently appointed Madeleine Pinder as our new operations manager.

Q) Firstly, is it still important to have a regional aerospace cluster?

Yes, undoubtably. Each regional cluster knows their member companies thoroughly and personally, and it’s through this intimate knowledge and understanding we can act on a regional, national or international level to promote our member companies and their capabilities and expertise. The regional clusters meet monthly to share opportunities, best practice and look at areas of potential collaboration.

Q) What is your organisation’s aim?

The Aerospace Wales Forum is the trade association for all companies operating in the aerospace, defence, space and aviation sectors in Wales. We support our members by promoting their companies on our website, in our capabilities matrix and trade brochure and by giving them access to events, networking opportunities and industry expertise. As a membership organisation, we recognise that our value is measured by what we deliver and achieve for our members. To this end, we are committed to exploring new ideas and finding new clusters/collaborations that offer even more value to our membership.

Continuous Improvement has long been a vital cog in the aerospace business ‘machine’ and Aerospace Wales welcomes constructive feedback, whether you’re a member or not. If you’re not a member right now, why not come along to one of our events and see for yourself the value and opportunities we can offer your organisation.

Q) Typically, what are OEMs demanding from their supply chains?

Following all the turbulence of recent years with Brexit, Covid and the war in Ukraine and Russia, the next challenge is also a great opportunity with the recently announced Airbus ramp-up in production to 75 wing sets per month.  We need to assist supply chain companies throughout the UK to ensure they are all in the strongest possible position to be able to support Airbus in achieving these targets.

Q) Are you seeing increasing growth and interest in the development of advanced materials like composites?

In a high-tech fast-moving industry such as ours, companies are consistently trying to keep abreast of new developments and technologies that will enhance their productivity and business offering. We frequently run workshops with our members so that they can be kept abreast of new technologies and the impacts it could have for them. We also recently exhibited at JEC World, Paris, giving our members the opportunity to showcase their expertise, and for us to learn more about new technological developments.

Q) What is the cluster doing to help enthuse young people to take up a career in the aerospace industry?

We would love to be doing more than we currently are doing but resources somewhat restrict our activities. Aerospace Wales is supported by a team of 15 Board members and Ambassadors and these are from a cross-section of the sector and include academia and skills and training providers so that we can support their endeavours. We will shortly be hosting an Apprentice Workshop so that we can highlight to companies all the advantages of taking on apprentices and the routes to do so and the financial support available 

Q) Are you actively courting overseas companies to consider moving their manufacturing facilities to the area?

We are still receiving as many foreign direct investment enquiries post-Brexit as before, and we work closely with Welsh Government to put a full package of support together for any company considering relocating or starting up in Wales. We are not seeing companies relocating - in fact just the opposite with existing companies in Wales announcing major investments in our region, including the recent £100m for the Airbus Broughton facility, which is expected to create 550 new jobs.

Q) What industry changes would you like to see made that would make your life easier?

We find that companies can be a little reticent to share good news stories with their regional clusters and sometimes they don’t realise just how innovative they are. We would love to be able to share your good news stories and do more to promote this amazing UK sector through our social media channels, events and publications. That way, we can reinforce our sector’s reputation - not just in the UK, but on a global stage

Q) Finally, where next for Aerospace Wales?

We will continue to expand upon the foundations we’ve laid in the last 12 months with our expanded team within Aerospace Wales and the newly-formed Space Wales to give our member companies as many opportunities as possible to network and grow their own organisations.

We will continue to build on the success of our bi-annual Aerospace Wales Showcase Expo and we’re hoping to hold later this year an Awards Dinner in South Wales. We’re also looking forward to getting back on to the exhibition circuit. Having already exhibited at MRO Americas and JEC World this year, we’re looking forward to the Farnborough Airshow and then onto MRO Europe.

The Aerospace Wales team will be at the Farnborough Airshow on stand 1221 within the UK Pavilion, whilst Space Wales will be exhibiting on stand 4212 in the Space Zone in Hall 4.

www.aerospacewalesforum.com