“I’m absolutely confident that as the review takes place the power of those three ingredients will shine through as they have done in the past.”


A former apprentice, who has risen through the ranks in a 26-year career in the defence industry, he took over his current role in December. Previously he was managing director of the company’s operation in Saudi Arabia.


In the interview, carried out at Farnborough, he also spoke about the importance of the sector and BAE Systems to Lancashire and stressed the defence giant’s commitment to the county and its workforce there.


The company employs more than 11,000 at its Lancashire operations, with thousands more working in its supply chain.


He said: “We are a global business but in the combat air sector, and the air sector that I have the privilege of running, our team has its spiritual home in Lancashire.


“Therefore, when we do things like move our Typhoon project forward, when we talk about GCAP in terms of our very long-term projects,


apprentice employer in the UK, he added: “Our role is also to provide the people.”


He went on: “I started as a technical apprentice. I’m really proud we do so much with young people, especially in Lancashire.


“Our apprentice scheme is oversubscribed. If you look at the numbers we are taking on, 600 this year. The number of applicants for those roles, demand substantially outstrips supply.


“We are also hiring at an unprecedented rate in terms of mid-career experienced hires.


“If you just go on to our website you can see the number of vacancies we have and a lot of those are Lancashire based. We are looking for different skills types.


“The message we want to get out is we don’t just need people who have been through the traditional engineering route. We want people from a whole variety of backgrounds.”


That includes employing people with gaming degrees as the business harnesses training software running on gaming technology.


“We are casting our net widely,” he added, The ability for us to continue to provide high-quality


jobs for people at all ages in Lancashire and across the UK is one of the driving forces of the business


with people and capability at their core, as well as defence outputs, it makes me really proud.


“The ability for us to continue to provide high-quality jobs for people at all ages in Lancashire and across the UK is one of the driving forces of the business.”


He pointed to the investment made, both in BAE Systems’ Lancashire operations and in skills, to ensure the company’s future success – including the millions of pounds spent creating its Academy for Skills and Knowledge (ASK) on the Samlesbury enterprise zone.


He said: “If you think about a facility like the ASK, that kind of investment is something that businesses make with a very long-term view.


“You don’t do that unless you are planning to be in the region and be productive in the region and value the throughput of young people becoming trained in crafts, project management and engineering.


“The investments are being made because we have a long-term future. It is all about being here for the next 20, 30, 40 years.”


Highlighting that BAE Systems is the largest


sharing his belief that a career in defence appeals to “a broad spectrum of people”.


Warton is also home to BAE Systems’ ‘Factory of the Future’ – another muti-million pound investment and a test bed for game-changing new technologies that will transform how combat aircraft are made in the future.


Simon said: “There’s a lot of concept work, but we are actually demonstrating that in real life and showing that we don’t just talk about design and technology, we put it into practice.


“The Factory of the Future has been a fantastic opportunity to show people how we are doing that, how we are putting the technology to work.


“We are a great tech business but you have got to apply tech. The Factory of the Future shows how you apply that tech and you actually get to a product.”


Describing the North West as a ‘Silicon Valley’ style area for aviation and defence, he added: “The big message for the people of Lancashire, our workforce, is we are investing for the future. We are going to be prioritising Lancashire for the long-term.”


Natalie Hughes Director and insolvency practitioner /SimplyCorp /SimplyCorp


TAXING TIMES FOR OWNERS


CASHING IN Chancellor Rachel Reeves will present the Government’s first Budget to Parliament on October 30 and has said Labour “will not increase taxes on working people”, which means no hikes to income tax rates, national insurance or VAT. The party has also previously said it will not increase corporation tax either.


However, it is likely we will see tax rises in other areas with experts thinking that either increasing the general rate of capital gains tax (CGT) or reducing the availability of Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR), could be possibilities.


As such, for business owners who may be considering retirement or winding up and extracting capital, now might be the time to accelerate those plans to lock in the current favourable tax rates.


A solvent liquidation, also known as a Member’s Voluntary Liquidation (MVL), is a regulated process dealt with by an insolvency practitioner to wind up the affairs of a solvent company.


The MVL process involves the company paying all creditors in full, before paying the balance of funds to shareholders. The payment of these funds is subject to CGT but, coupled with the potential availability of BADR, the rate is reduced to 10 per cent on the first £1m of lifetime gains.


This is far lower than tax rates attached to withdrawing the same funds as dividends or salaries and at Simply Corporate we regularly assist directors to successfully complete MVLs and benefit from these lower rates.


For further ‘MVL’ help and advice call Natalie Hughes on 01282 222420


simplycorporate.co.uk


Tempest LANCASHIREBUSINES SV IEW.CO.UK


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