Diversity in the workforce can transform defence businesses and an enterprise-wide approach is needed to change attitudes and encourage innovation, according to Atkins.

Diversity in the workforce can help transform defence businesses, according to engineering and project management consultancy Atkins.

Atkins signed both the Women in Aerospace and Women in Defence charters at DSEI last month.

Dave Clark, Aerospace and Defence Market Director for Atkins explained: “Our story is in transforming defence. Defence needs to be more efficient and needs to get capability into the hands of the users much more quickly. That requires two things: it requires innovation and innovation requires diversity.

“We are doing a lot to showcase new tools and techniques but also we have signed both the Women in Aerospace and Women in Defence charters, so that is our commitment to our story on innovation.”

Enterprise-wide commitment is important

Clark said he was pleased to see that the charters were attracting widespread support throughout the defence industry: “It was great to see, on the Women in Defence charter, the MOD and the Armed Forces also signing alongside with industry – that enterprise-wide commitment is really, really important.”

Clark explained how adopting an approach diverse ways of tackling challenges were vital to help transform businesses.

“Our biggest clients are defence equipment support businesses in the UK and information systems and services, so they are providing all of the equipment and all of the ICT to our Armed Forces. Our role is to bring innovation and new ways of working, looking across all the different programmes and bringing together things that can really change the way the equipment is delivered – that’s where our focus is.”

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