DURING the political tumult of early July, when every day brought a new twist in the story of Brexit and its aftermath, and we were all feeling somewhat unsettled, a quiet ray of hope shone on Northern Ireland. Causeway Aero brings together five of our manufacturing businesses to form a new entity which will forge a new way forward in the aerospace sector.
Denroy Plastics, Base, Moyola Precision Engineering, Hutchinson Aerotech and Dontaur Engineering will all remain individual companies, but will also trade under one unifying brand of Causeway Aero to offer full design and manufacturing for the international aerospace market. Member firms are shareholders of Causeway, and their senior executives make up its board of directors.
I’ve been lucky enough to have been involved in the project for several years and have had the privilege of watching the companies’ work their way through the many challenges which this kind of collaborative work entails, overcoming problems and taking risks.
All of that work came together when we launched at the Farnborough Air Show, to significant interest across the international aerospace sector. There are already an encouraging number of enquiries in the pipeline, and we expect to make some welcome announcements in the coming months.
The potential in this project is immense. With the support of Invest NI and others, there have already been many jobs created across the aerospace sector here, and we are now committed to doubling the market to £2 billion sales annually and increasing the numbers employed from 8,000 to 12,000 by 2024.
At this point it might be useful to explain how the aerospace sector works: No one company builds a whole plane. That simply wouldn’t work economically. So there are aircraft manufacturers like Boeing and Bombardier, whose brand is on the fuselage and who design and build most of the plane.
However, below them are first and second tier integrators who build, for example, the plane’s wings or landing gear, to be assembled later, with smaller companies which design and build individual components below them.
A long term trend in aerospace has seen manufacturers and their first tier integrators dealing with fewer and fewer suppliers to avoid the inherent problems faced by managing contracts with dozens, sometimes hundreds of smaller companies.
This can create problems for SMEs, like those operating across Northern Ireland who find the market increasingly difficult to penetrate. That’s why the birth of Causeway is so significant, as it allows the five member businesses the opportunity to punch way above their individual weight, pitching for larger and more complex orders. Orders which need understanding of engineering and design, or sub-assembly and finishing treatments are within reach.
The goodwill at Farnborough was astonishing, and the development is a welcome one across the international market given the level of interest at the Causeway stand, and the comments made by a number of senior industry figures at a celebratory dinner held in London.
They’ve achieved something unique; while there have been ad hoc arrangements between companies in other parts of the UK, this is the first time that individual companies have formed a completely new entity, with one point of contact and legal arrangements in place.
Realistically, Causeway Aero is very much at the early, small beginnings stage. However the trust built up across the companies involved, the very real and enthusiastic support of Invest NI and ADS, the aerospace umbrella organisation, and the vision and courage of the board of directors gives me significant grounds for optimism.
:: - Barry Turley (barry@barryturley.com) is managing director of Turley PR and Public Affairs
