Cobham CEO David Lockwood recently welcomed Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and Michael Tomlinson, MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, to the company’s Wimborne facility.
Cobham currently employs around 1,000 workers at Wimborne, which has a storied history supporting the UK Ministry of Defence. During their visit, the two delegates saw a number of key defence projects first-hand, undertaken on behalf of the Royal Air Force and other global export clients. Among the projects on display, Cobham’s world-leading aerial refuelling technologies.
The Defence Secretary also took this opportunity to meet with a number of Wimborne-based Cobham apprentices and graduate trainees. There was ‘lively discussion’ on many of the industry’s biggest issues such as the significance of STEM (science, technology engineering and maths) in schools and colleges.
Speaking to the Daily Echo, Gavin Williamson underscored the importance of companies like Cobham to the UK economy: “This is a brilliant example and demonstrates how important defence is, not just to those who work in this factory but also to industry right across the country.”
“When you’re spending money on defence – whether it’s the RAF, the Royal Navy or the British Army – you’re investing in jobs and technology right across the country, including here in Dorset,” Williamson continued.
The Defence Secretary went on to reaffirm the government’s allocation of an additional £1.8 billion of funding. In total, £39 billion has been earmarked for UK defence spending in 2019.
Image © Ian Davidson Photography / Shutterstock
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Post written by: Robert Atherton
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