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Coast flying high in engineering stakes
THE North West aerospace industry is an "exemplary" model for the country to follow, according to a top Government minister.
Quentin Davies, the minister for defence equipment and support, praised the work of the Blackpool-based North West Aerospace Alliance (NWAA) at the opening of its new Lancashire office.
He spoke of how the work of the NWAA, through its Aerospace Supply Chain Excellence programme (ASCE), should be used as a model by other sectors.
Mr Davies was joined by a number of high profile figures from aerospace companies including Fylde workers at BAE Systems and Airbus, along with the North West Regional Development Agency and Business Link NW.
He said: "I think that the work done on the ASCE programme is exemplary and is a model that I think should be held up in other sectors and other regions.
"Aerospace is very hi-tech, adds a lot of value and there are a lot of exciting career prospects. It's very important to take these skills and maintain these markets." He also spoke of the Government's commitment to defence spending.
Martin Wright, chief executive of the NWAA, said: "This is a milestone in the development of the NWAA. We aim to continually evolve to face the needs of the future supply chain in aerospace and advanced engineering.
"We welcome the minister's support of our development and his views on the quality of the ASCE programme.
"Our programme will continue to be based on the development of an advanced cluster requiring very high levels of skill to compete in the global market. We recognise that skills development is a fundamental issue for the North West region which has such a strength in manufacturing from apprentices and beyond."
Steven Broomhead, chief executive of the Northwest Regional Development Agency, said the opening of the new office was a "statement of confidence".
The NWAA was recently granted more than 7m in funding from the Northwest and European Development Funds.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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