BAE Systems is Lancashire's largest single industrial employer by a large measure and is at the apex of the aerospace supply chain in the county. Formed from an amalgam of the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), Scottish Aviation and the Dynamics and Aviation arms of Hawker Siddeley into a public company (British Aerospace) by the government in 1977, BAE Systems (as it became known following the acquisition of Marconi Electronic Systems in 1999), was returned to private ownership in 1981 and today dominates the UK aerospace and defence industry.

The Company have the bulk of their Military Air Solutions Business Group in the County based at Warton and Samlesbury, near Preston. This group originally evolved from the English Electric Company which itself was formed in 1919 between a Preston firm, Dick, Kerr & Co. established in 1897 to manufacture electric tramcars, and four other companies from Bradford, Rugby, Stafford and Coventry.

1921 English Electric formed its first aircraft department at Strand Road in Preston and began to build Felixstowe and Kingston flying boats that were flight tested on the Ribble Estuary at Lytham. The Company also made a few small Wren planes powered by a 398cc motorcycle engine.

1926 Aircraft department at Strand Road closes because of recession and lack of government orders. Three hundred jobs are lost.

1938 Aircraft manufacture is resumed at Preston as English Electric is selected by the Air Ministry to commence the manufacture and final assembly of the Handley Page Hampden (and later also the Halifax) bomber. Production continues throughout the Second World War.

1939 Runways and Flight Shed No.1, first of five hangers built at Samlesbury by English Electric for flight testing and the assembly of aircraft parts manufactured in Preston.

1939-1942 Vast expansion to accommodate aircraft manufacture in association with Handley Page and the Air Ministry. As war time orders expand, employment with English Electric at Strand Road leaps from 1,200 to 13,500

1939-1945 English Electric constructed 770 Hampden and 2,150 Halifax bombers at Preston and Samlesbury.

1940 Construction begins on new runways at Warton which was to be developed as a "satellite" airfield for the Coastal Command station at Squires Gate airfield in Blackpool.

1945 In accordance with government policy, English Electric formed an Aircraft Division to design and develop military aeroplanes.

1945-1950 1,369 jet engine Vampires were built for the RAF and overseas airforces.

1947 English Electric takes over Warton Aerodrome which is used to conduct a series of test flights on a Gloster Meteor jet. During the war this had been a United States Air Force Depot used for the maintenance, overhaul and repair of aircraft, and subsequently was used as a Royal Air Force Station.

1948 Aircraft design is moved from Preston to Warton which became the company's new headquarters, although Strand Road remained the production centre.

1949 Work commenced on the Canberra - Britain's first jet bomber and the first aircraft to be wholly designed and built by English Electric. Some 1,400 Canberra's were sold to 13 countries.

1954 The Lightning first flew in this year and was Britain's first supersonic fighter. A total of 341 were produced, including prototypes and development aircraft, 54 of which were exported.

1959 A new company, English Electric Aviation Ltd is formed and expands its operations to include Strand Road, Warton and Samlesbury.

1960 English Electric Aviation together with Vickers-Armstrong and Bristol Aircraft are amalgamated to become the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) Ltd.

1964 English Electric Aviation is renamed as the Preston Division of BAC.

1971 Preston Division is renamed the Military Aircraft Division.

1977 BAC is absorbed into the newly created British Aerospace nationalised corporation and the Preston Division is renamed Warton Division.

1981 British Aerospace becomes a Public Limited Company.

1982 BAe becomes an industrial partner in the Airbus Industrie consortium with a 20% shareholding.

1990 An internal strategic review of the Military Aircraft business results in the phased closure of the Strand Road engineering works in Preston and 3,000 job losses across the three Lancashire sites.

1991 BAe Systems & Equipment is established as a separate trading company.

1992 A further 550 job losses are announced in February, affecting mainly administrative and technical staff at Warton.

1992 Military Aircraft Ltd is grouped with other BAe defence activities under one wholly-owned subsidiary, British Aerospace Defence Ltd, to become Military Aircraft Division.

1993 BAe Strand Road in Preston closes leaving only the Company's Apprentice Training Centre and the newly created Preston Technology Management Centre. Remaining work and equipment is transferred to Warton and to Samlesbury, which undergo major new investment programmes.

1997 BAe Military Aircraft & Aerostructures are merged to form a new business unit: Military Aircraft & Aerostructures (MA&A).

1998 Last Tornado delivered to the Royal Saudi Air Force.

1999 BAe announces the loss of 880 jobs across the Warton and Samlesbury sites as part of a continuing competitiveness drive.

1999 BAe acquires the Marconi Electronic Systems defence division of GEC and changes its name to BAE Systems. The Warton Unit becomes part of the Programmes Business Group (Air Systems).

2002 First test flight of a production series Eurofighter from Warton.

For some six decades BAE Systems and its predecessors in Lancashire has been the centre of the most intensive development of military jet aircraft in the UK and has built up an unrivalled level of continuity and experience in aircraft design. From early prototypes of the Canberra jet bomber and its subsequent variants, through to the supersonic Lightning Fighter, the TSR2 strike and reconnaissance bomber, the Jaguar strike fighter and the Tornado to the Advanced Experimental Aircraft Programme technology demonstrator pioneering design concepts for Eurofighter and the Typhoon, the testing and flight clearance of over 30 new types of fast jets, 17 being supersonic, has taken place at BAE Systems' Lancashire sites. Squeezed within the space of less than 60 years, this must count as a unique achievement for any single design centre in Europe, and possibly the world.

Today, BAE Systems' Military Air Solutions Business Group is Europe's and one of the world's leading military aircraft businesses. The Group employs about 14,000 people working on such programmes as the Eurofighter, Nimrod, Hawk and JSF (F-35 Lightning II) at a number of sites across the UK including Brough in East Yorkshire, Woodford and Chadderton in Greater Manchester, and most especially the two separate sites in Lancashire at Warton and Samlesbury (together known as the "Warton Unit") on which operations for the design, manufacture, testing and repair of airframes and systems are undertaken.

Warton

To the west of Preston, employing approximately 7,500 people, Warton Aerodrome is the business and management centre for BAE Systems' Military Air Solutions), has one of the finest operating airfields in the country and is Europe's premier flight test facility. The site covers more than 720 acres and its buildings provide a covered working area in excess of 220,000 sq.m. Boasting facilities at the forefront of technology, Warton is the design centre for combat aircraft and research and development and undertakes final assembly and testing.

Warton is the largest of the Programmes Business sites with a full range of systems integration, final assembly and flight simulation and test facilities. Specialist test facilities at Warton include a comprehensive range of systems laboratories, Radar Cross-Section (RCS) and Electronic Warfare (EW) test facilities together with wind tunnels and hot gas facilities. Over recent years a multi-million pound investment programme for the site has refurbished all the hangers (including a new £15m Eurofighter Typhoon final assembly hall), provided new office accommodation, re-equipped the air traffic control centre and up-graded the main runway as part of a process intended to bring the whole site up to the best of modern standards and to provide one of the most modern final assembly facilities in the world.

Samlesbury

To the east of Preston and with a resident workforce of about 4,000 people, Samlesbury is Air Systems' lead plant for high technology manufacturing. It is responsible for a wide range of military and some civil project work including major assemblies for the Hawk and Harrier, Eurofighter Typhoon wing and fuselage structures as well as major production work on the F-35 Lightning II, the largest military aircraft contract of its type in the world.

The site covers a total area of 142ha and has over 100 office and industrial buildings. The manufacturing operation, consisting of about 2,500 people comprises a mixture of traditional skills and high technology facilities: military and commercial assemblies; electrical and composite assemblies; fabrication, machining and treatments; high tech tooling; and production engineering. Manufacturing on the site is truly impressive, being equipped with some of the most advanced tooling and production facilities in the world. It has a sound engineering and technology base consisting of advanced techniques such as complex five-axis machining, composite structures, superplastic forming/diffusion bonding and high technology tooling as well as the more traditional skills of airframe assembly, equipping, etc. There are also a number of major manufacturing research and development projects targeting future projects and processes. The Product Support Organisation which serves customers all over the world is also situated at Samlesbury.

Over the past decade very substantial investments have been undertaken at Samlesbury to establish the site as a "world class" facility and low cost competitive manufacturer. Developments have included a new high tech tooling facility and fabrication, a new treatments building and large new machining building. Office accommodation has been refurbished and other investments have included facilities for composites and metal bonding, commercial and CFC assembly and military airframes assembly. In parallel, the infrastructure of the site itself has been upgraded with water, power, drains, landscaping and networking improvements. Samlesbury was the first of BAE System's sites to gain ISO 14001 environmental certification. Complementing these physical investments, a new operational strategy has been implemented introducing many new lean production methods of manufacturing covering organisation, logistics, engineering and people. More recently very considerable new investment has also been made to accommodate new and flexible technology for Eurofighter production making the Samlesbury facility among the most advanced in the world.

The latest investment in Samlesbury kicked off at the start of 2008 on the first phase of a major new development plan which could eventually lead to a multi-million pound aerospace business park. The first phase is a £50m scheme for a new office complex to house 1,400 staff needed to meet the requirements of a number of nationally important aircraft programmes including the Eurofighter Typhoon and the F-35 Lightning II. The new offices will utilise hi-tech energy management systems and include infra-red lighting, chilled beam heating/cooling and rainwater harvesting.

Also nominally based at Warton Unit in the Customer Solutions and Support Group are some 4,800 employees, of whom more than half are Saudi nationals working on the Al Yamamah ("Dove of Peace") Agreement with Saudi Arabia. BAE Systems, as prime contractor to this government-to-government agreement has overall responsibility for delivering the entire contract which calls for the provision of a complete defence package. This includes the supply of aircraft, associated hardware, radar and communications through to training and logistics support, skilled manpower and a comprehensive construction programme of new facilities on Saudi airbases. It is reckoned that overall, the Al Yamamah programme probably supports in excess of 25,000 jobs in the UK alone.

BAE Systems Air Systems has been a consistent export winner, selling its products, spares and support services world-wide. Today the company have around 2,330 aircraft in service in 25 countries. In 1974, 1977, 1982, 1983, 1991 and 1995 the Division was awarded the Queen's Award for Export Achievement and shared the Award with other BAE Systems divisions on two other occasions. Five times the Division has won the biggest single export orders ever obtained by the UK: the 1973 Saudi Arabian Support Contract (£253m); the renewal in 1977 (in excess of £500m); the Indian Jaguar contract in 1979; the Al Yamamah I agreement in 1985 (worth approximately £5bn) and the even larger £10-15bn Al Yamamah II signed in 1988. A renewal to the latter agreement was signed in 1993. In the order of £43bn+ has been allocated to Al Yamamah to-date with an open-ended commitment to a continuation of the programme - a sum vastly in excess of the actual value of the aircraft supplied themselves.

BAE Systems Employment by Place of Residence in Lancashire

All parts of Lancashire contribute towards the BAE Systems workforce to a greater or lesser degree. In terms of the two key Business Groups, Air Systems and Customer Solutions & Support, that between them provide about 11,800 jobs across the UK, some 9,900 employees or 84% live in various locations across the North West. About 8,300 or 71% of the national total are resident in Lancashire itself (Table 1).

Table 1 BAE Systems Employment by Parliamentary Constituencies, 2004, Air Systems and Customer Solutions & Support

Parliamentary Constituency	Employees	% of Lancashire Total
Blackburn	470	5.7
Blackpool North & Fleetwood	380	4.6
Blackpool South	520	6.3
Burnley	40	0.5
Chorley	370	4.4
Fylde	2,370	28.5
Hyndburn	130	1.6
Lancaster & Wyre	640	7.7
Morecambe & Lunesdale	60	0.7
Pendle	30	0.4
Preston	1,420	17.1
Ribble Valley	1,500	18.0
Rossendale & Darwen	140	1.6
South Ribble	180	2.1
West Lancashire	60	0.7
Lancashire Total	8,310	100.0
Other North West	1,590	—
Remainder of UK	1,860	—
Source BAE Systems

BAE Systems across the North West

Whilst Lancashire represents a large and important base for BAE Systems, the company has a much wider regional footprint throughout the North West of England across no less than seven principal sites covering four separate group activities:

Air Solutions based at Warton, Samlesbury and Woodford with involvement in the Eurofighter Typhoon, Nimrod MRA4, Joint Strike Fighter, Hawk and Future Offensive Air Systems.

Sea Solutions based at Barrow which is the UK Centre of Excellence for the design and construction of submarines.

Customer Solutions & Support based at Warton, Samlesbury, Barrow and Chadderton this business group is involved with military air solutions and support, training solutions, operational services and international programmes.

Land Systems based at Chorley and Radway Green these sites are responsible for such programmes as the Broach multi-warhead system, propellants, explosives, ammunition, small arms and artillery.

According to BAE Systems nearly a half of the company's UK workforce or more than 17,000 people are based in the North West region with at least the same number again supported indirectly through partnerships, joint ventures and its supply chain (with more than 1,200 suppliers in the region). Furthermore, as well as being a large regional employer, the company provides many high value-added and high wage jobs: more than half the regional workforce are skilled technicians and nearly a quarter are classified as (non-executive) professionals. Indeed, it is reckoned by the company that nearly 3% of all knowledge intensive private sector jobs in the North West are directly generated by BAE Systems and that this figure rises to about 12% of employment (nearly one job in eight) in knowledge intensive production sectors (see the related article on High Technology Industry). In total, the company estimates that in 2006 it spent £329m with its North West suppliers alone, had net capital expenditure across its sites averaging some £100m per annum and paid over £4m in taxes to local councils.

In addition to these 'hard' economic benefits, BAE Systems makes a major contribution to the skills base of the region. The Military Air Solutions business alone recruits 100 graduates each year with total expenditure on salary, skills and learning of £80,000 per graduate entrant over a two-year period. As well as this human capital investment, the company's apprenticeship programme at the Preston Training Centre delivers skilled technical workers (equivalent to NVQ level 3) at a rate of 400 people a year. Significantly, the company has a greater than 80% success rate in retaining its apprentices. Altogether, about 500 young people enter BAE Systems higher and further education training schemes, which are run in partnership with North West universities and schools.

This page was compiled by Peter Kivell.

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