In August, we held a commemorative event to celebrate Yeovil, home to Britain’s only onshore helicopter manufacturer, becoming officially recognised by the town and local councils as the ‘Home of British Helicopters’. To mark the new status, official signage with Yeovil’s new sobriquet was added to town boundaries to greet people arriving via road and rail. Similar signs also appeared at Yeovil College, in the Quedam shopping centre, and at Huish Park, home of Yeovil Town FC.
The event was attended by multiple generations of Leonardo employees, including from our top-rated apprentice and graduate schemes, as well as local politicians, community partners and representatives from the Ministry of Defence. There were speeches set to the backdrop of the AW149, our latest-generation contender for the UK’s New Medium Helicopter competition.
To coincide with the event, we also published figures for our helicopter business’ supply chain purchases, which showed a spend of nearly £500 million with over 650 UK suppliers in 2022. Around 25% of this procurement spend was with more than 250 SMEs.
As a summer of airshows came to a close at Bournemouth Air Fest, we thanked Flt Lt Matt Brighty and the RAF Typhoon Display Team for bringing us so much joy throughout. The team, which we were proud to continue to support in 2023, dazzled the crowds over Bournemouth beach while Leonardo STEM ambassadors entertained budding engineers with our interactive exhibits.
August saw the end of South Asian Heritage Month, which we celebrated at Leonardo for the first time in 2023 with events hosted across our UK sites. As part of our celebrations, colleagues gathered at lunchtimes to enjoy samosas and hear stories from those of South Asian Heritage, which we later shared on our website.