Business forces rally over defence spending
A NORTHERN cluster of defence industry suppliers, including many in the Tees Valley, said they welcomed two strongly-worded reports that urge the government not to cut back on spending for the armed forces.
Robin Fox, MD of Northern Defence Industries, which represents 200 companies in the defence, security and aerospace sectors, said the Defence Industry Council’s call to arms ’“underlines the arguments we at NDI have been putting to Government and the MoD for two years”.
Britain is the second largest producer of defence industry products in the world. Two per cent of the North-east workforce - 6,100 people - are employed in their manufacture with many SMEs in the Tees Valley engaged in major supply chain projects.
Billingham-based McGill Services, the Hertel UK subsidiary, and Stockton-based Darchem Engineering both recently won multi-million-pound contracts to work on the biggest warships ever built in the UK, while Darlington-based Ruck Engineering said it would be providing industrial pressure washers to the Army and Navy.
Middlesbrough IT firm Onyx Group has also expanded following a string of contract wins on sensitive military and defence projects.
Overall, the defence, security and aerospace business in the North of England employs around 20,000 people and is worth around £2bn, said Mr Fox. “If the Government could make decisions on some of the procurement projects held in abeyance it would boost the supplier networks in this region.
“It would also help to secure and create jobs in the higher-layer engineering companies where we want to be for the future - a message that we have been promoting on behalf of our SME member community, not just in the North but across the country.”
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