Flying high for engineering
The Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) is a showcase to display some of the UK’s most advanced manufacturing. Ed Hill hears how the organisers are helping the industry to generate new business.
Bombardier to sell its Belfast aerospace operations
Bombardier has announced it will pursue the sale of its Belfast and Morocco aerostructures businesses, as stated in its Q1 financial results.
Bombardier has announced it will pursue the sale of its Belfast aerostructures businesses, as stated in its Q1 financial results.
Trade unions in Belfast have expressed shock after the plans were announced. Bombardier is the largest high-tech manufacturer in Northern Ireland, which employs over 3,600 people.
Located yards from the Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, the plant in Northern Ireland is by far the most important manufacturer left in its capital city, once one of the key industrial centres of the British empire.
The decision is part of a plan to combine Bombardier's corporate and regional jet units into a single aviation unit and shed more non-core assets, including its Belfast and Morocco aerostructures businesses.
"Today's announcement will come as a shock to the entire Bombardier workforce in Northern Ireland," the Unite trade union said in a statement.
"The UK government must stand ready to ensure the retention of jobs and skills at these sites, Bombardier is simply too important to the Northern Ireland economy to allow anything less."
Our sites in Belfast and Morocco have seen a significant increase in work from other global customers in recent years. We are recognised as a global leader in aerostructures, with unique end-to-end capabilities – through design and development, testing and manufacture, to after-market support. Bombardier is committed to finding the right buyer – one that will operate responsibly and help us achieve our full growth potential.Bombardier www.bombardier.comWe understand that this announcement may cause concern among our employees, but we will be working closely with them and our unions as matters progress, and through any future transition period to a new owner.
There are no new workforce announcements as a result of this decision, but our management team will continue to drive ongoing transformation initiatives to improve productivity and increase our competitiveness, to give more weight to our unique value proposition to potential buyers.
Company
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