Major contract for UK’s North West aerospace sector

The North West Aerospace Alliance (NWAA) has signed a deal worth more than £200,000 with The Advance Consultancy to help aerospace companies in the region bid collaboratively for large contracts.

The contract forms part of the NWAA's £7 million Aerospace Supply Chain Excellence 2 (ASCE 2) programme delivered by the NWAA and funded by the Northwest Regional Development (NWDA) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The NWAA already encourages extended enterprise among its distinct commodity groups, including composites. The new contract will encourage these groups to further collaborate in order to win major contracts which require a wide spectrum of capabilities and will begin with a research phase initially involving key North West aerospace companies, manufacturers and global operations.

Gordon Owen, commodity group manager for the NWAA, said the project is vital in order to establish greater integration across the North West aerospace supply chain and pursue wider business opportunities.

“The aerospace industry is constantly changing, and through consultations with key aerospace stakeholders, the North West aerospace industry has recognised the need for a collaborative and integrated approach to respond towards the trend of through-life single contracts and risk sharing partnerships,” he explained.

“We are confident that creating the extended enterprise model will provide the glue that binds collaboration between separate companies with common needs to successfully bid for larger work packages.”

Norman Kerfoot, managing director of Staffordshire based The Advance Consultancy, added: “The objective of the NWAA extended enterprise team is to drive excellence within the North West aerospace industry through the development of collaborative high performance initiatives in order to provide a long term sustainable North West aerospace sector.

“We are fully focussed on working with all of the key organisations and people on the programme to ensure outstanding results are delivered over the coming months.”

www.aerospace.co.uk