AEROSPACE CLUSTERS I EUROPE
Small is beautiful T
hey say good things come in small packages, but what about small islands? The Isle of Man has a history in aerospace manufacturing that goes back more than 60
years and the UK Crown Dependency has continued to build on that heritage to create a thriving sector today. Adrian Moore is chairman of the Isle of Man Aerospace
Cluster (IOMAC), which was set up with the cooperation of the Island’s Department of Economic Development, Chamber of Commerce and local aerospace companies in 2006. “We were keen to ensure the cluster was not just a vehicle for marketing,” he begins. “We wanted to look at how we could all work together for the benefit of the industry and create the right structure to attract new companies.” The cluster now consists of 19 members including well- known names such as: RLC Ronaldsway, GE Aviation, Swagelok, CVI Melles Griot Laser Optics and others in advanced aerospace manufacturing. “Aerospace is a primary sector of our industry and the second highest employer. It employs more than 1,000 people if you include the service companies. The nature of most of the work is high-tech and high value with low mass production, so the logistics of getting things on and off the island become a very small part of the product cost. Our companies are involved in all the major civil and military aircraft programmes in the world including the 787, A350, A380 and A400M, Eurofighter Typhoon and the Joint Strike Fighter.”
Independent advantages The Isle of Man’s independent status when it comes to finance means it can offer incentives for companies thinking of setting up business. There is a 0% corporate tax rate and attractive grants are available. “We have a financial assistance scheme which differs from a number of others in the UK and Europe. Its main advantage is that if companies are successful, they can come back to the scheme year on year. Here we consistently reinvest in companies if they provide an economic benefit for the island, not just in terms of jobs, but also local spend and profile they create.” Moore’s role with the cluster is combined with his work with the Department of Economic Development. “We like to think that our independent status does give us more agility to implement initiatives and react to market forces. We try to be a government that companies want to
Just 52km long and 22km wide, the Isle of Man may be one of the smallest aerospace industry regions, but it also one of the busiest as Ed Hill reports.
Swagelok provide fluid system technologies for aerospace
actively cooperate with and not tie things up with bureaucracy.” The policy seems to be proving a success. In the last four
years aerospace’s contribution to the island’s economy (GDP) has grown by 50% and it hopes to double its turnover in the next five years. “We want to continue to facilitate that growth and help businesses realise those opportunities. The defence market has taken a bit of a hit because of governments cutting back on spending, but the cluster has good diversification. Our companies have learned to be adaptable and not reliant on defence work. Civil programmes are growing so much at the moment that the work does continue to be available if it is not around in defence.” Like most other first world manufacturing economies, the
main concern for the future of the island’s aerospace sector is filling the skills gap. The cluster’s companies have cooperated with the local college to create a well-rounded apprenticeship scheme.
AEROSPACEMANUFACTURING | MARCH 2013 39 REGISTER FOR YOUR FREE COPY OF AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING BY VISITING:
WWW.AERO-MAG.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48