Flying the flag for the aerospace industry

In a visit hosted by the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership and organised by the Government’s UK Trade and Investment department, the diplomats and civil servants learned how the county’s aerospace industry is the strongest in the country.

The aim was to enable them to relay the “Lancashire – number one for aerospace” message to potential customers abroad and encourage foreign companies to invest in Lancashire.

The area has the largest concentration of aerospace production in the UK, employing more than 12,700 people, and is part of a wider world class regional cluster accounting for more than a quarter of national production. Major employers in this sector are BAE Systems, Rolls Royce and Aircelle. The delegates visited BAE Systems at the Lancashire Enterprise Zones and learned about the aerospace sector’s supply chain, the work of BAE and the Lancashire Enterprise Zone itself. The University of Central Lancashire and Lancaster University also briefed the delegates. The Lancashire Skills Hub outlined ongoing programmes to ensure the workforce has the right skills for the sector while foreign-owned corporations such as Safran Aircelle and Kama described their experience of the business environment.

An LEP spokesman said: “The visitors took away a clear understanding of the nature and scale of the aerospace sector in Lancashire.”