UK Sector Leadership
FAC sits at the heart of the UK's advanced manufacturing, aerospace and space sectors. Home to the largest and second largest regional economies, according to the latest EU report on regions, the South East is also the most populous region of the UK, with a heavy concentration of world-class engineering companies involved in aerospace and defence in particular. The space sector is also best represented in this region.
Indeed, FAC represents the largest region by export value - with UK aerospace and defence totalling a massive £31.8bn (ADS Group), making the sector second only to the US in global sales.
The UK aerospace industry enjoyed a total turnover of £23bn, up 10% since 2010 and, according to the ADS data, the sector has expanded 39% in just five years, driven by exports - with 90% of sales (£27.7bn) to organisations outside of the UK.
So, clearly, the sector is strategic to the economic health of the UK. It is therefore positive to see that the outlook shows healthy growth for the foreseeable future.
From a regional perspective, with a cluster of major airports, the south-east of England is the major hub. This focus is driving innovation, research and development. New technologies, such as composite materials, are being developed putting the UK in a leading global position.
According to John Schmidt, global managing director of aerospace and defence at Accenture, aerospace companies at the leading edge of what's possible
“A combination of powerful market forces and disruptive technologies are reshaping the future of aerospace and defence, offering exciting opportunities in intelligent automation, robotics, augmented reality and wearable technology."
“Companies are already automating tasks and processes in their organisations, with extensive use in knowledge worker and IT tasks. This is set to increase across all areas of aerospace and defence. Our research shows 85% of the industry’s executives expect artificial intelligence to have a significant impact on the industry in the next three years.”
Composites are just one of many new technologies being driven by the demands of the aerospace, space and defence sectors. Another field under development is augmented reality - an innovation in which information can be overlaid onto images in the real world using a headset, smartphone or other mobile device.
“As increasing pressure to deliver on time and at-scale drives manufacturers to take a more hands-on approach to supply chain,” says Mr Schmidt, “technicians will increasingly be equipped with internet-enabled smart glasses to conduct virtual production inspections of airplane seats and other in-cabin applications.”
FAC manages and supports a large group of aerospace-related business organisations, seeking to have a portfolio of technology and industry-related companies fulfilling key aspects of the sector. These businesses can be global enterprises, small to medium sized specialists, and one-man consultants and experts with decades of experience behind them.
The aerospace sector is the jewel in the crown of the UK economy, creating highly innovative technologies that contribute overwhelmingly to the wealth for the country. We are proud to represent the best of this sector and to be regional leaders in the UK.
Aerospace in the South & East Region
FAC
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South East Aerospace
Our UK Role
The fact that London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports are close by is a major advantage, with these international assets augmented by Europe's only business dedicated aviation airport at Farnborough and the international airport of Southampton.
The region's rich heritage goes back to UK’s very first sustained powered flight at Farnborough in 1908. Farnborough is now the home to the national headquarters of the UK’s largest aerospace company BAE Systems, US firm Flight Safety International’s Flight Training Centre, Boeing’s state-of-the-art network-enabled centre for collaboration and experimentation and QinetiQ’s Cody Technology Park, Europe's largest science and technology solutions company. In fact seven of the top ten global aerospace companies have a presence in the Solent region in south Hampshire including EADS, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Finmeccanica.
In addition to aerospace, defence features strongly in the local region, with Portsmouth Naval Base home to almost two thirds of the Royal Navy’s surface ships. The Solent Enterprise Zone at Daedalus focuses on advanced manufacturing, specialising in the marine, aerospace and aviation sectors.
The supply chain also benefits from a vibrant sub-sector eco-system - Hamble Aerostructures are leaders in aerostructures field; the VT Group and Lockheed Martin have expertise in defence systems; experience in unmanned air vehicles comes from Roke Manor Research; Serco has key skills and expertise in homeland security; in the space field EADS Astrium supplies the majority of European military satellites; and BAA’s Southampton Airport and UK air traffic management company NATS are prominent in the airport and airline services sub-sector.
Looking to the future, and based in Farnborough, QinetiQ is Europe’s largest technology company and one of the world’s finest defence research institutions. The company’s research labs have pioneered a range of technologies including radar and liquid crystal displays, over more than six decades.
- The University of Portsmouth’s Aerospace Materials research group specialises in applied research into fatigue and fracture of aerospace materials and components, with industrial collaborators including Rolls Royce, the US Air Force, the MOD, QinetiQ, Astrium and Westland Aerostructures.
- The University of Southampton’s Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre (UTC) for Computational Engineering applies modern computational tools, methods and environments to problems in aerospace engineering and related fields.
- The University’s Airbus Noise Technology Centre (ANTC) works towards meeting the industry's target of cutting perceived aircraft noise in half by 2020.
FAC, its members and over 1200 associated organisations operating in the Hampshire area, can rely on a rich, vibrant and exciting business comm unity capable of adding value to any supply chain.
