VIDEO | The role of defence in regional growth

In today’s era of global political uncertainty, the defence industry has a more important role to play than ever. It already contributes £2.2bn to the North West economy and supports more than 20,000 jobs – numbers that could grow if the region plays its cards right.

Morgan Sindall Construction and Place North West partnered together on a discussion around the future of the defence industry in the North West, looking at the role it plays in placemaking and economic growth. Participants debated best ways of supporting existing companies as well as drawing others into the area.

Find out more by watching the video at the top of this page, or on the Place Media Group YouTube channel.

Key takeaways

• A long-term, region-wide strategy that focuses on clusters rather than individual schemes is the way forward. It’s about creating an ecosystem.
• Making the North West more attractive for the defence industry is about more than building work complexes, it means ensuring that the housing, retail, and leisure offer is there to attract people to want to live in the area – not just work.
• More work needs to be done to encourage and enable SMEs to contribute to the defence industry – this could include clarity around clearance rules and easier routes to procurement.
• Skills needs to be a focus, in particular those that can be transferred between the defence industry and others.
• Build it and they will come – we need to build spaces fit for the industry. This is not just about the primes like BAE, but also smaller companies. This also means incubator space.

Participants

• Paul White, partner in architecture at Ridge
• Andy Walker, head of business growth and innovation at Lancashire County Council
• Ged O’Dwyer, chairman of the North West Aerospace Alliance
• Jayne Moorby, steering group member of North West Regional Defence and Security Cluster and head of marketing at Oxley Group
• Stuart Hill, director and defence lead at Black Cat Consultancy
• Steven Gregory, North West director at Morgan Sindall Construction
• Oli Curlett, managing director of defence, security, industry, and nuclear at WSP
• Melissa Conlon, steering group member of North West Regional Defence and Security Cluster and commercial director at AMRC North West
• Chris Acton, chief executive of Clancy Consulting
• Chair: Julia Hatmaker, editor of Place North West

To learn more about Morgan Sindall Construction, visit morgansindallconstruction.com.