Aerospace The aerospace industry has attracted some of the world’s leading companies to Wales, including BAE Systems, British Airways, GE Aviation, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Zodiac Seats and Qioptiq. Airbus Group in North Wales employs 6,500 people in its civilian aircraft wing plant. Wales is a cornerstone of UK defence operations: the segregated airspace for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) was a world-first.
Joining a family John Whalley, Aerospace Wales Forum We have 10 per cent of the aerospace population in Wales, so we punch well above our weight. We have great partnerships: Wrexham Glyndwr University in North Wales works closely with Airbus and smaller companies, and trains students and Airbus personnel. In the space sector we have WASP (Wales Academic Space Partnership) working on earth observation and space robotics. Wales is great for companies. If you come to Wales you are not just setting up a factory, but joining a family. You’ll get lots of support from government, institutions and universities. It’s a great time to be here, we’ve got one of the world’s leading manufacturers and, on the horizon, we have hybrid electric aircraft and UAVs (drones) bringing new James Davies, Chair, Industry Wales Traditional industries, or sectors, are changing dramatically, so business, industry and government have to change at the same time. It’s important to break down the silos between traditional markets to achieve synergies. Digital is a very important part of that, as both an enabler and an innovative process for achieving new products and services. In the future, academia, government, entrepreneurs, funders and industry will work collaboratively to ensure that there is an added value manufacturing and technology sector in Wales. During 2018 we want to establish a conference that draws the new types of industries we will have in the future together. opportunities to Wales. Thinking ahead
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