Glasgow-based, Walker Precision Engineering Ltd, has been selected for Sharing in Growth, a government-backed programme to help firms compete for increased aerospace business.
The contract manufacturing company employs almost 150 people and produces tight tolerance parts and machinery, specialist bonding and tooling, and carries out assembly and repairs for companies the likes of Selex ES; Thales; Raytheon; Rolls-Royce, and BAE Systems.
The Sharing in Growth (SiG) programme, which attracts £1.2m from the Regional Growth Fund, will help the joint managing directors – brothers, Gary and Mark Walker – develop the company to become more productive and competitive to win or retain £15m in contracts by 2018.
Gary commented: “The Sharing in Growth programme will allow us to capitalise on the tremendous growth opportunities in the aerospace market.
“We are already a highly successful company, with a great team, and we are ready to tackle ever more challenging targets.
“We are confident that the funded programme will take us to new levels of customer satisfaction by allowing us to increase efficiency and invest in our staff, processes and equipment.”
The company aims to grow sales from its current customer base, to add new customers, reduce costs and improve profitability.
SiG is already helping 40 companies achieve their aim of an average 50% increase in productivity.
SiG’s four-year transformation programmes are designed to deliver and sustain improvements so that UK firms are better placed to compete for the continuing huge growth in the aerospace sector.
Established in 2013 with £50m from the RGF and endorsement from AgustaWestland; Airbus; BAE Systems; Bombardier; GE; GKN, and Rolls-Royce, SiG has already helped secure contracts worth just over £968m for the first 23 firms on the programme – equivalent to around 1,500 UK jobs.
Sharing in Growth CEO, Andy Page said: “We are delighted to be working with Walker Precision Engineering. They typify the ambitious companies that qualify for the programme.
“We look for companies who have a turnover of between £10m and £100m and are able to make staff available for training and on-the-job development. Companies are expected to match in kind – rather than cash – the value of the £1.2m benefit they receive.
“The Sharing in Growth programme is commensurate with the size of the competitive challenge facing the aerospace and defence sectors. We are on track to secure 10,000 jobs in aerospace companies by supporting them to be more productive, competitive and profitable and hence share in the ongoing growth of the sector.”
SiG’s cross-functional experts tackle areas such as lean operations, manufacturing engineering, procurement and cost and value engineering.
To ensure a sustainable and fully integrated transformation programme they also work with delivery partners such as Deloitte; Unipart Expert Practices; the National Physical Laboratory; The University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing, and Industry Forum to provide world-class training in leadership, strategy, business planning and performance improvement.
