Manufacturing Academy - Big Boost for Aerospace

The announcement of a new employer driven Manufacturing Academy is a big boost for UK aerospace and great news for manufacturing, SBAC said today. The Manufacturing Academy will help companies, large and small fill their skills gaps, access high quality training for their existing work forces and raise standards in course design, delivery and assessment.

The skills council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies Alliance (SEMTA) has been chosen by the Government to work with industry to develop a sustainable plan for the manufacturing academy. The importance of skills in achieving world class productivity is a key objective of the Aerospace Innovation and Growth Team initiative.


SBAC director general Dr Sally Howes said, ‘SBAC and its members are delighted to be part of the successful SEMTA bid. Finding people with the right skills is top of the agenda for aerospace companies and the academy will help create a focus for the delivery of globally competitive skills and capture the best practice that has been developed in cross sector and regional initiatives.’’

Notes
SBAC is the national trade association representing suppliers to the civil air transport, aerospace defence and space markets operating in the UK economy. It represents over 2,500 companies, assisting them in developing new business globally, facilitates innovation and competitiveness and provides regulatory services in technical standards and accreditation. To know more go to: www.sbac.co.uk
At present, the UK has the world’s largest aerospace industry outside the USA. UK based aerospace activity had a turnover of more than £17bn in 2004, supporting a highly skilled workforce of over 255,000 people.

The Aerospace Innovation and Growth Team (AeIGT) was established in May 2002, by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry with a mandate to map out a 20 year vision for the future of the Industry and to make recommendations on how to make the vision a reality. AeIGT has established a series of key recommendations which are being taken forward by a series of working groups. Each working group had representation from the whole AeIGT stakeholder community (Government, Industry, Academia, Trade Unions, Trade Alliances).

SEMTA (Science, Engineering, Manufacturing Technologies Alliance) is the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies.

SEMTA covers some 100,000 companies employing 2,500,000 people in the UK. Our companies provide up to 10% of UK Gross Domestic Product (GD) - £74 billion every year – and contribute 33% to total UK Exports. To know more go to: http://www.semta.org.uk


Contact:
Paul Everitt, Communications Director, SBAC
Tel: 020 7227 1021
paul.everitt@sbac.co.uk

Source : SBAC