The aerospace industry in Lancashire: Handout

Economy of the county
Lancashire has a varied industrial base with all industrial sectors represented in the local economy. The area as a whole, though, has a strong dependence on manufacturing, with 31% of employees in employment working in manufacturing as opposed to 23% in the UK as a whole. Conversely, 61% work in the service sector compared with 69% nationally.

History of the aerospace industry
The origins of the aerospace industry in Lancashire date back to the 1920s when there was a small aircraft manufacturing company in Preston. The main period of growth came during the Second World War, when there was a great demand for aircraft as part of the war effort. It was necessary to move manufacture away from the prime target areas of the Midlands and the south of England, and in Lancashire there was already an engineering workforce who had transferable skills learnt in the traditionally strong industries of textiles and railway equipment manufacture.

The aerospace industry today
Today, the aerospace industry is the biggest industrial sector in the county, directly linked to about 45 separate manufacturing units and employing around 21,000 people. This is 12% of the total manufacturing workforce and 4% of all employees in Lancashire. Lancashire has 12% of aerospace employment in the UK.

British Aerospace
The largest aerospace employer in the county is British Aerospace (BAe), which employs 13,000?14,000 of the total 21,000 Lancashire aerospace workforce (1989 figures). These workers come from all over the county, but the main centres of residence are South Ribble (26%), Fylde (20%) and Preston (18%) (see figure 1). Warton Aerodrome is the military aircraft HQ of BAe and in addition to being the main assembly plant for Tornado, Hawk and the European Fighter Aircraft (EFA) is the centre for research and development and Saudi support.

Restructuring
BAe was located at three main sites in Lancashire, collectively known as the Warton Unit. This has now been reduced to two, one at Warton (north of Preston) and the other at Samlesbury (between Preston and Blackburn), as part of a major restructuring operation (1990-93) which also saw a reduction in the workforce of some 3,000 workers. The reasons for the change were:

• a worldwide reduction in defence spending
• advances in technology,which meant changes in production methods
• a need to cut manufacturing costs to increase competitiveness.

Reasons for success

• technically superior products (Tornado, Jaguar and Hawk)
• marketing strategy - a consistent export winner to Saudi Arabia, India, US, Malaysia, as well as regular sales to the RAF
• research and development - use of new production methods and technology,for example using materials such as titanium and aluminium-lithium, use of robotics and CAD/CAM

The future
As well as continuing to develop and maintain existing markets, BAe is playing a significant part in the four-nation EFA programme. The EFA is a tactical, single-seat, multi-role combat aircraft with superior ground attack and air capability. Designed to take the place of ageing aircraft, it is the result of massive cooperation between BAe (Britain), MBB/Dornier (Germany),Aeritalia (Italy) and CASA (Spain) for the airframe; Rolls Royce is the UK partner in engine development. Despite concern over the cost and other socio-economic factors, production of the EFA is due to go ahead but in reduced numbers. This should ensure a reasonably secure future for Lancashire aerospace employees.

Constituency	No of employees	%
Blackburn	670	4.6
Blackpool North	520	3.6
Blackpool South	970	6.7
Chorley	680	4.7
Fylde	2940	20.3
Hyndburn	320	2.2
Lancashire	280	1.9
Morecambe & Lunesdale	30	0.2
Pendle & Burnley	50	0.3
Preston	2600	18.0
Ribble Valley	580	4.0
Rossendale & Darwen	290	2.0
South Ribble	3720	25.7
West Lancashire	90	0.6
Wyre	720	5.0
Total for Lancashire	14,460	100

Figure 1 Area of Residence of Lancashire BAe Employees
(Source: BAe (Military Aircraft) Ltd 1989)