At the start of the month, the Governments of the UK, Japan and Italy announced that their three nations will develop a next generation fighter aircraft under a new Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP). We joined the UK’s sovereign industry partners, under Team Tempest, to declare our support for this significant endeavour. As part of the announcement, we looked at how Team Tempest partners have recruited more than 1,000 apprentices and graduates since the launch of the project in 2018, with young people nationwide inspired by the opportunity to be part of a once-in-a-generation combat air programme.
In December, we also took the opportunity to look back at some of the wonderful work that our colleagues put in to help raise money and awareness for their chosen charities.
In Edinburgh, employees presented a cheque for over £62,000 to the Harmeny Education Trust, concluding their three-year partnership with the local charity. This included Leonardo’s Craig Morrey trekking to Everest Base Camp earlier this year, as well as a team of colleagues cycling 100km around Loch Ness in support of the trust. In Yeovil, colleagues donated over £88,000 to the Yeovil Hospital Charity Breast Cancer Unit Appeal as part of their partnership, while Leonardo also sponsored the local Half Marathon. A team of employees from Luton and Lincoln completed the Three Peaks Challenge in aid of Cancer Research UK.
All these activities took place against a backdrop of other fundraising events throughout 2022 for various organisations. Well done to all who took part, not just those mentioned above, and thank you to everyone who donated.
Also in December, we hosted a workshop on sustainability, led by the South West Manufacturing Advisory Service at the iAero Centre close to our Yeovil site. Small and medium-sized enterprises from across the UK and our supply chain gathered to share knowledge and best practice, and discuss the hurdles we all face when trying to find innovative solutions to tackle one of the key challenges on the UK Government’s agenda: How to reach Net Zero by 2050.
Our winning streak at annual awards ceremonies continued, as Leonardo Design Engineering Graduate Apprentice, Ross Pringle, was announced as the national winner of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ (IMechE) Apprentice of the Year Award. Ross won this prestigious award due to his contributions to revitalising our onsite additive manufacturing facilities, as well as his creation of development opportunities for a new generation of engineers at Leonardo. Meanwhile, Leonardo Senior Structural Dynamics Analyst, Thomas Magowan, received the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) Alan Marsh award for his contributions to the development of a novel active-control-system for minimising aircraft vibration, as well as work on the AW159 Wildcat.
There was further positive news from the Home of British Helicopters, as Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) revealed that 25 AW101s had been upgraded under the Merlin Life Sustainment Programme (MLSP). Delivered by Leonardo, these upgrades show why many consider the Merlin MK4/4a to be the world’s most advanced amphibious battlefield helicopter. We also announced that Bristow Group had signed a contract to procure six AW139 helicopters to support the Second-Generation Search and Rescue Aviation (UKSAR2G) programme by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and Vertical Magazine shared news that we had installed an initial production capability for the AW149.
In the same month, we invited 1032 (Yeovil) Sqn RAF Air Cadets to our Yeovil site, so that we could meet the next generation of pilots and engineers, and show them the latest aerospace technology being developed at our site facilities. Later, on the International Day of People with Disabilities, we spoke to some of our helicopters trainees who created an imaginative and memorable tour for visitors from local charity, The Hub, to learn more about our technology.
Thank you to everyone at Leonardo, whose hard work has created so many opportunities for success in 2022. Here’s to celebrating even more achievements in 2023!