Report highlights £6 billion UK aerospace maintenance, repair & overhaul industry

A|D|S today publishes a report looking at the contribution of the UKs Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Logistics (MRO&L) sector, which makes up around a third of the countrys aerospace sector that is number one in Europe and second only to the US globally in terms of market share. The sector is worth £6 billion per year to the UK economy and employs 30,000 people across the country in around 450 companies.

The report highlights the nature and contribution of MRO&L and sets out how the industry and Government can work together to safeguard and grow the sector for the future. The report represents an important step in the adoption of a comprehensive industry-led approach to MRO&L and its recommendations describe how a real British strength can continue to deliver for the long-term economic well-being of the country.

Graham Chisnall, Managing Director of Aerospace and Operations of A|D|S, said:

In the world-leading UK aerospace sector the contribution that the maintenance, repair, overhaul and logistics sector makes sometimes gets overlooked. However, as our report demonstrates MRO&L represents around a third of the sector, employs 30,000 people and generates £6 billion per year to the UK economy and has excellent growth prospects. It is a national strength on which other parts of the aerospace sector in the UK can be based.

To maintain this expertise and economic contribution for the long term the industry is committed to working with the Government to raise the profile of the MRO&L sector, deliver growth through a future workforce with the requisite skills and continue to improve productivity and supply chain efficiency. In our regular meetings with Vince Cable and Mark Prisk we will examine the practical ways in which to deliver on these aims.

The report is at: www.adsgroup.org.uk/community/cms/content/preview/news_item_view.asp?i=21896&t=0 and it recommends:

• Ensuring that the MRO&L perspective has greater prominence in strategic aerospace activities from both the industry and Government, including in the ongoing development of defence industrial policy flowing from the recent Strategic Defence and Security Review.
• Strengthening the UK MRO&L supply chain by improving productivity, embracing global market opportunities and attracting value-added inward investment.
• Attracting high-calibre people into the MRO&L sector and ensuring that they can obtain the skills development required to meet future requirements.
• Influencing European co-operative activities to create harmonised civil and military MRO airworthiness regulations and supporting European interests affected by the FAA Re-Authorization Bill.
• Embedding the technology and innovation requirements of the MRO&L sector into wider aerospace technology strategies and enabling MRO&L companies to contribute to future aircraft and component design.

These recommendations can be viewed in more detail in the report itself, in section 7.