Lockheed Martin recently hosted an event in the UK to assist Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) unlock the growing opportunities of space in the North East.
More than 100 attendees from companies across the region joined Lockheed Martin and partners RTC North and the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle, where a series of talks were given and exhibits on show from across the space and defence industry.
With more than 75% of Lockheed Martin’s suppliers in the SME space, the event provided an exciting opportunity for companies to learn about ways of working with larger enterprises and the value of these partnerships in delivering unique capabilities.
The Ministry of Defence engaged with SMEs from the region on how they can help their businesses grow, with RTC North discussing the future of robust supply chains to demonstrate how SME’s can build new opportunities.
This event builds on The Space Sector Skills and Supplier Summit Lockheed Martin hosted last year, that brought together supply chain representatives from the North East industry, with a view to identifying new partners from industry and academia to support the North East’s UK space ambitions.
Paul Livingston, Chief Executive of Lockheed Martin UK, said, “SMEs play an important role for us in the UK and so we were delighted to host this event and support the development of the North East’s already thriving space sector. We are committed to helping the UK become a space nation and contribute to Leveling-Up the economy.”
A representative from the UK Ministry of Defence, said, “Today’s event with Lockheed Martin and RTC North highlighted the scope and range of supplier capability in the North East. We hope that the event will help more of these diverse and innovative suppliers fulfil their potential to deliver defence capability and contribute to regional and UK prosperity.”
Alan Whittaker, Head of Supply Chain Programs at RTC North, said, “It was great to work with Lockheed Martin in delivering a highly informative event for SME’s involved in supply chains. The excellent line up of speakers and subject areas helped the delegates to understand more about accessing supply chain opportunities in the defence and space sectors. We look forward to delivering further activities across the north of England and understanding the impact through more engagement within supply chain programs.”