Aerospace Lancashire to launch at Farnborough International Airshow

A new initiative to promote Lancashire as the UK’s number one aerospace cluster will be launched at the Farnborough International Airshow when the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Lancashire County Council (LCC) join together as ‘Aerospace Lancashire’.

The Aerospace Lancashire mission at the global trade show includes property and investment agents Colliers International, recently appointed to market the Samlesbury Enterprise Zone site.

It will be part of a North West aerospace presence at Farnborough facilitated by the North West Aerospace Alliance (NWAA) trade association.

They will also be highlighting how Lancashire is well positioned to take advantage of a rising global demand for better and more innovative aircraft, in both the civil and military sectors, over the next two decades.

The strong and historic relationship between BAE and Lancashire is set to be further reinforced next week with the F-35 Lightning II fighter making its Farnborough debut.

BAE leads on several areas for the F-35, including the manufacture of its rear fuselage, and has calculated that the F-35 project already helps to support over 1,500 jobs in Lancashire and has generated over £8m for the local economy in the last 12 months.

"We also have a very agile, highly productive and integrated aerospace supply chain, including many SMEs, which are all are set to potentially benefit from a boom in new orders.

"The next generation of aircraft will need to be smarter, more efficient and quieter, and while passenger jets are getting bigger, business jets will need to be sleeker and more bespoke.

“We are taking a strong message to Farnborough that highlights both the thriving aerospace sector we have today in Lancashire, and shows that as a region we are already gearing up for the challenges and opportunities which lie ahead in the future.”

"The outlook for the sector as a whole is currently very positive, and we are well placed to benefit from a ramp-up in orders in both the commercial and defence sectors.