The UK aerospace industry is on the upturn after the pandemic and Clive Higgins, CEO and chairman of Leonardo UK, believes the country has the potential to be a centre for innovation excellence for aerospace and defence.

“We have a few headwinds of course. If you look at where we need to be in terms of skills, young people and expertise staying in the industry, we’ve got a lot of work to do there. But we have a government who is recognising that for the first time and their impetus on international partnerships and exports is something that is really beneficial,” he explained.

Leonardo UK is working alongside SMEs and institutional partners in government to build resilience and onshore capability in the supply chain for the UK in the future. Events like Paris Air Show, which took place in June 2023, provide primes like Leonardo with a platform to share the UK’s aerospace and defence capabilities on a global scale.

“It is great to be meeting with customers and international partners and stakeholders to demonstrate the fabulous capabilities and showing exactly what the UK can do,” Higgins added.

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