FIA 2016: CW Fletcher announces £7m export agreement
Sheffield precision engineers CW Fletcher signed a £7 million three year export deal with Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) of Japan on the opening day of the Farnborough International Airshow (FIA). Under the new agreement signed at the Farnborough International Airshow, CW Fletchers will supply unison ring components which will ultimately be fitted into Rolls-Royce aero engines.
CW Fletcher employs 180 people at its Sterling Works in Sheffield’s Mansfield Road and supplies precision machined and fabricated parts to aerospace and nuclear customers including IHI Corporation, GKN, Rolls-Royce and Sellafield Ltd.
The new contract is part of CW Fletcher’s ambitious strategy to increase its turnover from £20 million to £32 million by 2020 and underscores the company’s success since joining Sharing in Growth (SIG), the government-backed competitiveness improvement programme.
Established in August 2013, the SiG programme helps aerospace supply chain companies to improve their productivity and competitiveness so they are better placed to win a share of continued growth in the global aerospace market. Each company participates in an intense four year training and development programme which attracts £1.2 million from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) for each company.
Speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow where he signed the agreement with Mr Akio Onsuka of KHI, CW Fletcher Managing Director Steve Kirk said: “This is a very important contract for us. It demonstrates the quality of our work and the skills of our workforce and it will safeguard Sheffield jobs. We are delighted that the Sharing in Growth programme has helped us win export business for Britain.”
Sharing in Growth CEO Andy Page said: “CW Fletcher joined the SiG programme to win business through increased productivity and competitiveness. Their achievement is outstanding and shows the effectiveness of the programme which so far helped UK aerospace companies secure more than £1 billion in orders to date - 20% of which is for direct export. Ultimately the SiG programme’s goal is to secure 10,000 UK jobs by 2022.”
Sharing in Growth (SiG) is helping a total of 50 companies achieve their aim of an average 50% increase in productivity and is currently recruiting to fill the final 12 places on the programme. The programme is backed by a total of £80 million from the RGF and endorsement from Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, Bombardier, GE, GKN, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, Safran and Rolls-Royce, amongst others.
SiG creates an integrated and bespoke transformation programme founded on leadership, culture and operational excellence. The core of team of 130 cross-functional experts are supported by deep expertise from 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.
Companies interested in joining the SiG programme can complete an expression of interest form which is available at www.sig-uk.org/apply
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