Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Greg Clark, said:
I am thrilled to have been appointed to lead this new department charged with delivering a comprehensive industrial strategy, leading government’s relationship with business, furthering our world-class science base, delivering affordable, clean energy and tackling climate change.
Source: GOV.UK
Business Secretary Sajid Javid has today (12 July 2016) announced that government and industry have committed to providing almost £365 million of funding for new aerospace technologies, further enhancing the UK’s reputation as a world leading aircraft design and manufacturing hub.
The news, timed to coincide with this week’s Farnborough Air Show, builds on the £1.2 billion of funding government has already jointly invested through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), which has contributed to 149 new projects, involving 188 different companies and organisations, including over 100 small and medium sized businesses.
The research projects will target different aspects of aircraft manufacturing and performance, driving up competitiveness, lowering costs, and helping to deliver environmentally-friendly aircraft with lower emissions and reduced noise.
Business Secretary Sajid Javid said:
Aerospace is a vitally important industry for the UK and it is one of our great manufacturing success stories, supporting over 230,000 jobs and generating over £30 billion a year for the economy. We are number one in Europe and world leaders in innovation, design and manufacturing parts for planes.
With government and industry investing nearly £4 billion by 2026, we are showing our continued commitment to this vital sector and our intention to keep the UK’s world-beating status. I am proud of our record supporting our great aero industry and we will continue to do all we can to help this high flying sector soar to even greater heights.
Also at Farnborough, the Aerospace Growth Partnership (AGP) updated the sector on the industrial strategy for UK aerospace. The AGP has transformed the way in which industry and government work together to secure the long-term future of one of the UK’s most important sectors.
A key feature of the strategy is industry’s Supply Chain Competitiveness Charter signed by the sector’s leading civil aerospace manufacturers. This will strengthen relationships between the large companies and their suppliers, working together to raise productivity and competitiveness.
Welcoming the new AGP strategy, Sajid Javid said:
Means of Ascent, the updated strategy for the UK aerospace industry, is a great piece of work and will really help with the partnership between government and industry. I am also extremely pleased to see that the industry has also developed a Supply Chain Competitiveness Charter which will help our smaller companies become even more productive and export more.
ATI Chief Executive Gary Elliott said:
This is the largest batch of ATI projects to be launched since operations started 3 years ago. It moves UK aerospace towards delivering the next generation of quiet and low emission aircraft, whilst also tackling immediate manufacturing challenges. The participants are a who’s who of global aerospace, as well as the UK supply chain and research base – a powerful demonstration of the strength of UK innovation.
Innovate UK Chief Executive Ruth McKernan said:
From the inception of Innovate UK 9 years ago, we have been working with companies large and small to make the UK a global centre of excellence for aerospace innovation. We look forward to continuing the highly successful partnership with industry, the Aerospace Technology Institute and government to deliver this goal.
ADS CEO Paul Everitt said:
This investment reinforces the value of modern industrial strategies and will help keep the UK at the forefront of global aerospace technology. The Aerospace Growth Partnership’s focus on the value of the UK supply chain and the steps required to sustain global competitiveness will help ensure the sector continues to make a growing contribution to our national prosperity.
These projects have received funding from the aerospace research and development (R&D) programme, a £3.9 billion joint funding commitment from industry and government to support projects which build on the UK’s strengths and develop the products and manufacturing technologies that will best position the UK to sustain its global competitiveness. The programme is delivered in partnership between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Innovate UK and the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI). The commitment was made in 2013 and the 2015 Spending Review announced that the funding would be extended by 6 years to 2025 to 2026, worth an additional £900 million from government.
The ATI was created by government and industry to guide investment into research and technology projects that will sustain and enhance the UK’s competitive advantage. Its technology strategy defines the best combination of capabilities, technologies and products to advance next-generation civil aircraft; enabling industry to exploit anticipated global growth, and deliver value to the UK economy through the sector’s high productivity and skills. The ATI has now published a Technology Strategy and Portfolio Update 2016.
Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency. It works with people, companies and partner organisations to find and drive the science and technology innovations that will grow the UK economy – delivering productivity, new jobs and exports and keeping the UK globally competitive in the race for future prosperity.
Source: GOV.UK
The Prime Minister has announced a new strategic partnership between Boeing and the UK, as well as nearly £400m for new aerospace R&D projects, ensuring we remain a global aerospace industry leader.
Ahead of the Prime Minister opening this year’s Farnborough air show, Boeing has confirmed that the company will create 2,000 new jobs in the UK and increase their R&D spending.
Boeing and the government intend to work together to build a new £100m P-8A operational support and training base at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, creating more than 100 new jobs.
To ensure the UK’s continued position at the forefront of global aerospace, a further £365m worth of aerospace R&D projects have been approved. These are jointly funded by industry and government. These are part of the work of the Aerospace Growth Partnership which will publish a new strategy at Farnborough setting out plans to maintain the UK aerospace sector’s leading position. This includes a new supply chain competitiveness charter signed by 11 major companies across the aerospace sector.
Following last week’s NATO summit, the Prime Minister will also confirm the UK has signed a contract to purchase 9 new Boeing P8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft to protect the UK’s new aircraft carriers. This underlines the UK’s determination to deliver on its Strategic Defence and Security Review commitments and providing a clear sign of the UK delivering on its pledge to maintain defence spending at 2% of GDP.
The Prime Minister said:
Whatever uncertainties our country faces, I want the message to go out loud and clear: the UK will continue to lead the world in both civil and defence aerospace. We aren’t just open for investment: we are a place the global aerospace industry wants to do business – as Boeing’s long-term partnership with the UK proves.
It’s also important to put government investment where it counts. That’s why we are jointly funding the new R&D fund with the aerospace industry and why I’m pleased we have today signed the contract for 9 new P8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft for the Royal Air Force, underlining the UK’s commitment to spending on vital defence.
Boeing will increase overall bid opportunities offered to UK suppliers and work with the UK government to enhance UK suppliers’ competitiveness. The aim of the initiative is to create the opportunity for UK companies to double their supply work with Boeing and to win higher proportions of content on future Boeing aircraft.
Boeing has signed the Aerospace Growth Partnership Supply Chain Competitiveness charter.
Boeing will make the UK its European base for training, maintenance, repair and overhaul across its defence fixed-wing and rotary platforms.
Additionally, Boeing and the government intend to work together to build a new £100m P-8A operational support and training base at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, creating more than 100 new jobs.
Boeing will continue to grow its commercial aviation services business in the UK.
Boeing will make the UK a base for defence exports to Europe and the Middle East, increasing UK employment, investment and tax revenue.
The Aerospace Growth Partnership, started in 2010, will publish a refreshed industrial strategy ‘Means of Ascent’ at Farnborough – demonstrating government and industry’s continued commitment to investment in UK aerospace.
A further £365m of new aerospace R&D projects have been approved to commence, jointly funded by HM Government and industry. This is part of a total £4billion joint R&D commitment over 13 years to 2026.
New supply chain competitiveness charter signed by 11 global aerospace players with a presence in the UK.
Source: GOV.UK
Business Secretary Sajid Javid will kick-off preliminary trade talks with India later today (8 July 2016) when he meets the Indian Finance and Commerce Ministers during a series of discussions in Delhi.
The Business Secretary will use meetings with Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to outline his vision for what a future trade relationship between the UK and India might look like outside the EU.
It is the first in a series of trade meetings the Business Secretary will conduct over the coming months, which also is expected to include trips to the USA, China, Japan and South Korea.
The Business Secretary has also confirmed that to aid in discussions, the government plans to rapidly build its trade capability – up to 300 specialist staff, including new trade negotiators – by the end of the year.
Business Secretary Sajid Javid said:
Following the referendum result, my absolute priority is making sure the UK has the tools it needs to continue to compete on the global stage.
That is why I am in India today to launch these initial trade discussions. There is a strong bilateral trade relationship between our 2 countries and I am determined that we build on this.
Over the coming months, I will be conducting similar meetings with other key trade partners, outlining the government’s vision for what the UK’s future trade relationship might look like.
As part of the discussions, the Business Secretary is expected to make clear that he would like the UK and India to have a trade agreement in place as soon as possible after the UK leaves the EU.
The Business Secretary has also been speaking to British diplomats this week, urging them to utilise their expertise and meet with their governments and local investors to make clear the UK remains an open and viable trade partner.
Speaking at the FCO Leadership Conference on Tuesday (5 July 2016), the Business Secretary urged diplomats to make it known to their countries’ governments that the UK was looking to expand its options for trade deals.
Trade and Investment Minister Lord Price has been in Hong Kong and China this week, attending the G20 trade ministers meeting in Shanghai and meeting key government and business representatives. This is part of the government’s engagement with key trade partners, reinforcing the UK’s ongoing commitment to maintaining and strengthening the economic relationship between the countries.
Alongside visiting Delhi, the Business Secretary will also be in Mumbai where he will meet senior Tata Group board members to discuss the ongoing sale of their UK steelmaking assets.
India and the UK have always had traditionally close trade ties: the UK is the largest G20 investor in India, while India invests more in the UK than the rest of the European Union combined. India has also emerged as the third largest source of FDI for the UK.
Last year, bilateral trade in goods and services between the 2 countries was £16.55 billion (in goods was £11.43 billion while trade in services was £5.11 billion)
According to the government of India data, the UK is the third largest investor in India for the period April 2000 to September 2015, with cumulative inflows of $22.5 billion.
In 2014 to 2015, the UK won a record number of investment projects and is India’s top investment destination in Europe. India is also Britain’s third biggest job creator in 2014, with a 65% increase in FDI.
A new industry report by CII and Grant Thornton tracking Indian companies based in the UK has revealed that many of them are boosting growth rates in the country, registering a combined increase in revenue of £4 billion: from £22 billion in 2014 to £26 billion in 2015.
According to London and Partners in 2015 Indians also become the second biggest job creators in London. Indian companies created 504 new jobs this year in London alone – second only to the Americans who created 1983 jobs.
In 2014 to 2015 Indian investments in 122 FDI projects created 7,730 new jobs and safeguarded 1,620 jobs in UK.
Source: GOV.UK