In October, we learned that our Deputy Head of Electronics, Dr Carol Marsh, was to receive an OBE for services to diversity & inclusion in electronics engineering, in the Queen's Birthday Honours list. Later in the month, Dr Marsh was also recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as they named her Visiting Professor in Developing Professional Skills for Electronic Engineers. In a significant month for our female engineers, we celebrated Ada Lovelace Day (13 October) by posting Instagram stories from women at Leonardo as they shared their thoughts on gender equality within the industry, and showcasing a video of Dr Marsh and our Engineering & Projects Director, Paula Clarke, discussing why they are committed to diversity in engineering.

As part of our ongoing commitment to improving all forms of diversity across our UK business, not just of gender, we celebrated Black History Month with a series of interviews with colleagues from different backgrounds about their careers, challenges and cultural diversity. We have since published an article detailing our response to some of the topics raised during Black History Month, and the changes we are making as a result.

Later in the month, we announced a new collaborative partnership with STEM Returners as part of our commitment to recruiting the best candidates for engineering vacancies. The initiative will help highly qualified and experienced candidates restart their career following a break, allowing Leonardo to employ engineers whose skill sets are needed to fulfil several roles across our business.

The Atlantic Future Forum is the annual defence, security, technology and trade summit between the United Kingdom and United States of America. This October attendees at the latest event were able to tune in online to hear from speakers on-board the HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth, where they were in the company of the AW159 Wildcat. It was a great opportunity to showcase some of our capabilities, including our British-built helicopters, and discuss the crucial role that we play in transatlantic defence and security.

Also this month, the AW159 Wildcat took part in a UK first as we used it to demonstrate the seamless integration of a UAV into a helicopter’s mission system, whereby a helicopter crew can control a UAV from the cockpit as if it was one of the aircraft’s on-board sensors. The demonstration took place as part of the Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUMT) trials, using a semi-autonomous UAV from Callen-Lenz Associates.

There was further cause for celebration in this month too, with several Leonardo apprentices taking home prizes at the Make UK Manufacturing Awards 2020 regional finals. We are incredibly proud of all our apprentices, who are vital to our business, and we wish the best of luck to those award winners at the national finals in January. Our winning streak continued, as we were named a 'Business Hero' by the British Chambers of Commerce in recognition of “going the extra mile to support the local community during the Coronavirus outbreak."

Finally, Leonardo’s thermal imaging technology helped capture some unique footage of bats for BBC 2’s Inside The Bat Cave. Leonardo's Ian Baker, a specialist in filming bats using thermal cameras, was part of the programme's crew.