The Supply Chain

SUPPORTING “A NATIONAL ENDEAVOUR”

The industrial impact of the Dreadnought programme reaches out beyond the BAE SYSTEMS Barrow-in-Furness shipyard and its sister sites in Surrey, Dorset and Gloucestershire. It includes UK and some specialist overseas based companies supplying equipment, materials, nuclear propulsion, weapons and sonar systems.

This supply chain includes capability across the UK such as:

• Submarine structures, power systems and sensors from the North West;
• Gearboxes and steel from Yorkshire;
• Nuclear steam raising plant and mechanical handling systems from the East Midlands;
• Engines from the West Midlands;
• Command and control systems from London;
• Electrical systems, antenna systems and control panels from the South East;
• Sonar and communications equipment from the South West;
• Periscopes from Scotland.

£7.5bn is forecast to be spent with 1,500 Supplier companies in the first and second tier supply chain in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over the life of the programme.
At Barrow and in Furness a cluster of companies has come in to have a sustained presence supporting submarine build, they include L3-Mapps, Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine, Allan Webb Ltd, Gleeds, Jacobs, Rolls-Royce. Local firms such as Ardent Safety, Athena-PTS, Leck Construction, Furness Plastics, Handmark Engineering, Optech Fibres, SN Group and Furness College with University of Cumbria offer specialist support.

The regional UK supplier impact is summarised below.