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Defence giant Lockheed Martin expands IT service offering
Lockheed Martin UK is a significant Solent region employer, employing more than 600 people at its Whiteley and Havant sites. The former supports and services central UK government customers such as the National Air Traffic Control Service (NATS) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Sue Hughes of The Business Magazine met Mark Cooper, managing director IS&GS Civil UK
Lockheed Martin UK’s facility in Whiteley is an impressive example of regional technology growth. It won £300 million worth of contracts in 2013, including the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the network infrastructure for NATO’s new headquarters, and plays a critical role in the UK’s national transport infrastructure, developing systems which help more than two million commercial flights safely navigate the UK skies each year.
Mark Cooper, managing director IS&GS Civil UK (Information Systems and Global Solutions), heads the UK division which can be broken down into numerous individual components, the second largest of which is the IT business. NATS has been a valued customer for three decades; it’s a perfect fit, because Lockheed Martin is both IT and air traffic focused. Increasingly, however, it is seen as a new and emerging company by the Government with regard to IT, not merely defence.
Its R&D arm is attracting some of the smartest innovators leaving higher education, typified by internal research and development team leader and senior software engineer Oliver Johnson. With a masters in mathematics, he joined a year ago and oversees an internally-funded R&D project which develops prototypes and conducts research for both existing and potential customers.
“Research is aligned with business needs,“ he said, “and the range of simulators in this laboratory offer hands-on experience of air traffic management capability using airfield simulations. We use this kit but ask ’What is needed? Where do we source it?’ – then tinker with it to develop software solutions or install hardware. It’s a fantastic opportunity to come up with an innovative plan, but what we do is always relevant to stakeholders.“
Oliver Johnson, R&D team leader and senior software engineer
As Cooper explained: “Commitment and innovation is at the heart of this technology and the team is populated by early-years professionals, but their degree ranking is virtually irrelevant – because it’s all about company fit and problem solving. It’s an opportunity to really shine.“
A physicist and software developer by background, Cooper’s R&D team currently includes those with degrees in biology, forensic computing and computer science. They work with simulators which offer air traffic control operators, both trainees and experienced operatives, training packages in a safe and controlled environment.
“All commercial air traffic is controlled by our systems, but air traffic control is not just in the air, it’s on the ground too. The more realistic you make the environment, the better the operatives will be,“ Johnson added.
Lockheed Martin took on 12 apprentices in 2013. As well as targeting graduate recruitment fairs, it is aware that interest geminates in junior and secondary schools.
Long-term partnerships have developed naturally with 40,000 people working in IS&GS around the world. Customers include the
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – APRIL 2014
Pentagon and FBI, plus NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which put Curiosity Rover on Mars. “Scientists with funding are a dream customer,“ said Cooper.
Lockheed Martin won £300 million worth of contracts in 2013, including the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the network infrastructure for NATO’s new headquarters
Service Integration And Management (SIAM) is the current buzz-acronym, an overall umbrella to deliver various contracts, and having undertaken secure dater capture for the 2011 UK Census (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), Lockheed Martin is highly experienced at this.
“We’re not a US defence company,“ Cooper continued. “I am committed to UK jobs for UK people. Whiteley is our UK software centre of excellence with 150 developers here. We’re honest, open, focused on business ethics, with a company culture that retains and excites staff. Our reputation is everything and being
vendor independent means we can put customers’ needs first.
“The Amor Group acquisition brought with it a culture exactly the same as ours, and, in turn, has enabled it to add Lockheed Martin capabilities to attract larger customers. Growth is occurring through diversification. In the future I see it as 50-55% defence, with the remainder developing a larger commercial role.
“There has to be efficiency and synergy in what we put together. The massive repository of IP knowledge we hold makes us one of the most targeted companies for hackers, but has resulted in defence cyber protection of commercial value.
“Overseas, we’ve developed a new mobile fingerprint system for the FBI which processes 55,000 records a second. We have been the number one ICT provider to the US government for 19 years and the Affordable Care Act has Lockheed Martin technology behind it.
“Back in the UK, we’re proud to be the fastest-growing ICT provider in the country. 2013 was a year to remember because we had a 100% bid success rate. We’re transforming MoJ services with a solution that will save millions of pounds each month. And when we won NATS’ IT services, we negotiated the deal in eight weeks and transformed it in six weeks. NATS has awarded us a Supplier Excellence Award for the past seven years.“
The phenomenal pace of change makes it hard to gaze too far ahead, but exploration of joint external business opportunities to grow commercial revenue has resulted in steady 15% annual growth. The company envisages doubling in size in another seven years and Cooper enjoys independence from US control, with his superiors letting him get on with running his business, something he does with both skill and flair.
“Defence budgets will shrink, but IT will grow, so we will continue to take advantage of technology and use it in a commercial environment,“ he concluded.
www.businessmag.co.uk
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