By James Neely, Strategy Partnerships Director for Defence at NCC.
In the current global security climate, “the UK's Armed Forces are only as strong as the industry that stands behind them”. This pretty stark statement from Defence Secretary, John Healey, hits home: industry’s role in national security and sovereign defence has never been more critical. With the Government's recently published Defence Industrial Strategy – Statement of Intent paving the way for the full DIS publication this summer, we must rethink how we approach challenges too complex for any one organisation to tackle alone.
We need a fundamental culture shift that moves from a transactional, "us and them" mentality to an "us and us" partnership model. A better way forward. A model that harnesses our collective national expertise to develop capability, ignite innovation, and build resilience.
The power of regional clusters
The West of England is a shining example of how regional innovation clusters can make a big contribution to national security priorities. It’s impressive. Home to Europe's largest aerospace cluster, the UK's largest defence cluster, and a thriving technology ecosystem, our region embodies place-based industrial collaboration that directly supports the DIS priorities for a "better, more integrated, more innovative, and more resilient defence sector."
Right here in our region we have four high-quality universities, world-class innovation centres like NCC, and industrial partners from global primes to SMEs. Together, we’re building something special. We’re creating an environment where innovation thrives and skills develop, bringing with it the inevitable economic growth.
From regional leader to national voice
At NCC, we've long played a crucial role in regional leadership, but now we're setting our sights on strengthening our national voice that shapes policy and fuels innovation across UK defence. And it's working. Our leadership of the Applied Research & Technology Forum for UK Defence (Advanced Materials), for example, shows just how powerful it can be to bring together the MOD, industry, academia, and research organisations to identify challenges and develop collaborative solutions. By joining forces, we achieve more. Identifying and validating challenges collectively, we can more efficiently allocate resources, reduce duplication, and turbo-charge innovation.
Powering innovation…
NCC does far more than composites engineering. We thrive on being a catalyst for innovation, helping organisations pull through and commercialise their ideas. From developing sovereign carbon-fibre production capabilities to advanced survivability technologies to cutting-edge ceramic matrix composites – all of which are underpinned by the latest advances in digital engineering and manufacturing, our work strengthens both our defence posture and our industrial base while directly addressing the DIS priorities to "seize the future" and "create partnerships".
Our Technology-Pull-Through Programme takes novel technologies from academia and accelerates their path to industrialisation, de-risking and scaling promising solutions. It’s transformative. This approach could significantly benefit the defence sector, enhancing UK resilience and competitiveness. These efforts fit perfectly with DIS’s aim to "dramatically increase the pace in procurement, defence research, innovation, and acquisition for new, clean and emerging technology".
To support the rapid pace of change within the Defence sector, skills provision has to be at the forefront. At NCC, we are on a mission to help deliver emerging skills requirements in the right place, at the right time. Working with Innovate UK Workforce Foresighting Hub to ensure industry are equipped with the knowledge on future skills needs at every step of the innovation journey.
Our dedicated SME team works with companies to offer diagnostic services and identify innovation opportunities including match funding innovation projects, site visits that provide actionable insights on how to address process and production issues, and innovation workshops where our engineers work with companies to accelerate routes to manufacture and product development.
…and the economy
Our partnership approach creates high-value jobs, encourages investment, and stimulates growth that generates both military advantage and economic prosperity. To put this in perspective, NCC alone has created over £300m of direct gross value add (GVA) in the last five years, with our partners experiencing 30% faster growth than their peers who don't engage with innovation centres like us. That’s real impact.
Looking forward
As the DIS takes shape, there are opportunities to formalise and expand this partnership model. By making the most of regional strengths, investing in sovereign capabilities, and developing stable, long-term programmes that give organisations the confidence to invest in innovation, we can build a defence industrial base that's more capable, more resilient, and more prosperous – as outlined in the DIS Statement of Intent.
We're fired up and ready to play our part – to lend our regional expertise and amplify our voice on a national stage, bringing together diverse stakeholders to address our shared challenges and strengthen the UK’s sovereign capability and collective security. Let’s get started.
For more information about our strategic defence capabilities or to discuss potential partnerships, email James Neely at: [email protected]