Herefordshire aerospace deal collapses after doubts over orders
A JOINT venture agreement announced as part of a package of advanced manufacturing initiatives by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and which was set to create more than one thousand jobs in Herefordshire has collapsed.
There were fears that the venture was not sustainable because of a lack of sufficient orders.
Last year, the Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing and MARKET-MATS, with the support of The Get It Group LLC, signed an agreement to locate their advanced manufacturing campuses in the Hereford Enterprise Zone and Model Farm Ross-on-Wye.
More than 10% of the new jobs were set to go to apprentices, hence the support from the Government. The collapse of the deal will be a blow to its employment strategy.
It would have been a truly international venture. The Get It Group is based in the US, Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing is from Georgia and MARKET-MATS is from the Ukraine.
Each of the two advanced manufacturing campuses was expected to create at least 500 high-tech manufacturing jobs and once established the sites were predicted to increase local spending power by around £20m per annum.
Each campus would have had its own apprenticeship training school and at least 10% of the employees would have come through the schools at any one time, providing much needed employment for young people.
Reports over the weekend said the plug was pulled on the deal after the Get It Group (Midlands), which had been brokering the project, said it was not satisfied with either the business case or the level of orders.
Mr Clegg had announced the deal when he gave the keynote address at the British Business Embassy on advanced engineering excellence in London last August.
It was one of a number of announced deals that he said would lead to thousands of jobs in the engineering, aerospace and automotive sectors.
Nick Clegg had said: “The announcements being made today will create and safeguard jobs and stimulate growth. They are a welcome boost to British business and a vote of confidence in the UK.”
Brokers of the failed project are keen to keep the door open in case an alternative venture can be secured.
The Enterprise Zone sad it was still keen to attract investment to the area but this had to be sustainable.
