Insight
struction platforms. Massive things. But ognising aerospace, defence and marine uncertain, they won’t do that, they’re not
they are now doing much smaller jackets as a priority sector,” Malcolm adds. going to invest in training, particularly if
for offshore windfarms. Ian Watson, director of SBAC Scot- they’re going to lose that labour later on
“But the sum of their parts is just as land says that since the organisation was to some rivals, so they prefer to spread
big as the huge projects they used to do. founded, and the worth of the sector the cost of training those skills.
So even if the carriers were the last of properly measured, it has been growing, “If there are shortages, you would
the type we’re going to build that way, and Malcolm adds that “when you speak expect the labour market to start to adjust
and we’re going to do much smaller to the companies anecdotally, even over by sending forward signals that there’s a
work, it doesn’t mean that it will be less the last 12 months, they’re all showing shortage of labour here, and then sala-
overall.” huge growth and not just meeting their ries and wages in this sector will rise,
Perhaps illustrative of the capabil- growth targets, but absolutely going way and that then sends out signals so that
ity of the defence industry to Scotland, past them.” eventually, students looking at university
SBAC, the Society of British Aero- This has been a result of work on places will think, what are employment
space Companies, which is the UK’s the two new carriers, however, Watson prospects like in these areas?
national trade association representing outlines the work on civil aviation which Intentions are also important: “As a
companies supplying civil air transport, has also boosted the sector, and it is very crude indicator, when we came to
defence, homeland security and space, these civil types of industry which may the end of the Cold War, the message
set up a Scottish operation in 2005 to help “fill the troughs”, as Keith Hartley, coming out was the defence industry,
support sector competitiveness and pro- the director of Centre for Defence Eco- the defence economy and our armed
vide a targeted programme of services nomics at the University of York, said forces, weren’t a very attractive prospect
for members in Scotland. will occur between the completion of for students thinking about their future
Warrick Malcolm, head of public the carriers (due in 2014 and 2016) and career prospects. It works like that, there
affairs at SBAC, said: “Certainly the sec- future deals. is clearly a lag in the system before it
tor in Scotland is vibrant, and they have “The trough will be filled in three starts to seep through, but it would seep
in the past few years been doing very ways,” says Hartley. “Either one, you Per
null
haps through after time – students around
well, but there was a recognition from don’t fill it, you lose the labour and then
the greatest
sixth form thinking what to do next – and
the companies that the collective voice you’ve got all the problems of deciding
policy shift
they suddenly see, oh, the Royal Navy’s
wasn’t as strong as it should be, whether to rebuild that capability and the cost of
that an
buying two new aircraft carriers, there’s
that be within the Scottish Parliament, re-entering at some point in the future. a future in the shipbuilding industry, let’s
Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Govern- “The other option is that you trans-
independent
go to the ship building industry.”
ment and so on. fer work to the civil side, such as in the
Scotland
What would the signals be in an
“For example, if you looked at Scot- case of our nuclear capabilities; what would see is independent Scotland, and how would
tish Enterprise’s priority sectors at that you might do is try to retain some of the
the removal
that affect companies based here?
point, not only was aerospace not a pri- nuclear skills for nuclear power subma-
of nuclear
“It all depends where the orders are
ority sector, defence didn’t feature as a rines, by building civil nuclear power sta-
submarines
placed, were we to be independent,”
sector at all, and that reflects the fact tions, you will retain some of the capa- Watson said, while Malcolm added: “A
that the sector wasn’t perhaps making its bility of that.”
from
positive way is to say that the companies
good story as widely known as perhaps it This becomes more pressing if MARS
Faslane
will remain here as long as the businesses
should be, and that’s one of the reasons vessels are built abroad, which they may are profitable, and have a USP to being
why we get the support from the com- be, after the MoD later invited firms across
panies, because they recognise that they Europe to tender for the vessels.
null
in Scotland, whether it is skills or R&D
and that’s a positive thing in helping
themselves need to do more through an Malcolm says that the aim to double them win the contracts, so they’ll be here
organisation like SBAC to rectify that.” the sector’s sales “[is] very much achiev- as long as they are profitable by being
Comprising 42 members in Scotland able through the companies’ own efforts, here.”
– who account for 90 per cent of the though we are looking for government Malcolm adds: “I think the first thing
turnover of the sector – 300 nationally, support in the area of skills and R&D, to say is if Scotland was independent,
SBAC Scotland has this year published a [which] are the two obvious ones that at the moment we don’t know what an
vision for the future, with a correspond- spring to mind.” independent Scotland’s defence policy
ing action plan – from the industry advi- He adds: “Companies are finding would be, so first and foremost, it’s dif-
sory group that’s been formed with Scot- it increasingly difficult to get the right ficult to assess its impact on the compa-
tish Enterprise, Scottish Government graduates at the right time with the right nies when there are very little clear state-
and unions – due early next year. background, and we are looking to see ments about the defence policy, so once
The strategy sets out plans to dou- more support in terms of R&D.” we know that, it would be much easier to
ble the size of the Scottish aerospace, Hartley says that large orders can assess how the companies would react.”
defence and naval sector’s annual sales, help create the skilled workforce. “It Perhaps the Scottish defence indus-
which in 2006 were £2.28bn, in the next will all depend on the size of the order try could become a greater player in
15 years. and the certainty of that order. Private the export market? This is another way,
“We’ve got support from the compa- companies will be willing to become Hartley says, that any troughs can be
nies, and Scottish Enterprise responded proactive and invest in training of high filled. “It was the export market that
to the work that we’ve done in terms of skilled labour, if they face the prospect enabled BAE to fill the trough between
proving the size of the sector, its poten- of a substantial order. If the order’s not the end of the Tornado production line
tial, and is now coming together by rec- substantial in the short term, and highly and the beginning of the Typhoon pro-
30
| 17 November 2008 | Holyrood magazine | www.holyrood.com |
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