Leonardo opens £30 million logistics hub for helicopters in Yeovil, a major new investment in UK infrastructure in the South West

Today Leonardo invited community leaders to the opening of a Single Site Logistics Hub for helicopter maintenance in Yeovil, replacing eight ageing buildings with a state-of-the-art new integrated facility. Predicted to become a landmark of sustainability in the South West, the new hub’s green design extends right into the building itself, with over 25,000 cubic metres of demolition material successfully re-utilised in its construction.

The Hub will now revolutionise the way Leonardo services its global helicopter fleet, helping the company deliver replacement parts more efficiently and responsively for its international customers. Digital technologies underpin the highly-automated facility, which is able to rapidly distribute parts all over the world in order to keep Leonardo’s fleet flying.

The £30 million Hub officially recognised at the Home of British Helicopters represents Leonardo’s wider investment in the UK as the nation’s only onshore helicopter manufacturer. Leonardo has built a 3,330-strong highly skilled helicopters workforce in the UK, working on-site in Yeovil, including 430 design-focused engineers proficient in the 87 essential skill sets for executing high-value helicopter design work. The site also supports a thriving UK-wide helicopter supply chain and over 12,000 jobs.

The fully operational new Hub is equipped with LED lighting throughout, a bank of electric vehicle charging points in support of Leonardo’s Green Travel plan for employees and a brand new fleet of electric commercial vehicles that will distribute components from the Hub to the company’s manufacturing facilities. There is also a heat recovery system in the main warehouse to complement the temperature control system in the building’s modern office facilities.

The South West of England represents by far the largest cluster of aerospace and related sector industries, capabilities, facilities and skills in the UK and the second largest in Europe. The new Single Site Logistics Hub will help to maintain the South West’s competitive edge in aerospace products and services, with the region’s rotary-wing specialism also reading across into fixed-wing and autonomous technologies.

Mr Mark Langrill, DE&S Director Helicopters, said: "We welcome Leonardo Helicopters’ development of their new Logistics Hub and applaud their focus on sustainable design. Such investments in skills and infrastructure are an important means of contributing to regional prosperity and, in this instance of improving support to some of the UK Armed Forces’ helicopter fleets, procured by DE&S, which play an essential role in defending our national interests."

"We are proud to open this impressive new Single Site Logistics Hub here in Yeovil, the Home of British Helicopters," said Adam Clarke, Managing Director of Leonardo Helicopters UK. "This strategically-located facility will be able to draw on the region’s robust supply chain and skilled workforce and, by incorporating the latest digital and automation technologies, will enable us to offer an even better maintenance service for our UK and international customers."

"Following four years of partnership with Leonardo Helicopters UK, we’re delighted that the single-site fulfilment centre has been officially opened," said Murray Gascoyne, National Contract Logistics Director at Kuehne+Nagel. "Our shared strategic vision has come to fruition. This has been founded on, and testament to, our unwavering commitment to sustainability, the development of people skills and the power of collaboration. We are very proud to be part of the Yeovil community."