Telford firm says new defence investment must reach small manufacturers
Telford automation specialist Transicon today welcomed more funding for defence announced by the Chancellor but says SMEs in the supply chain must see the benefit if the UK is to build a more resilient industrial base.
In his first Budget today, John Healey announced up to £5bn from the National Wealth Fund and British Business Bank specifically to back UK defence industries.
The Chancellor said the additional spending supported the government’s ambition to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030. He had called for that rise before stepping down as defence secretary in June.
Jennifer Hughes, General Manager of Transicon which delivers projects for a number of manufacturers in the defence ecosystem, welcomed the announcement but said there must be clear routes for small businesses to benefit.
She said: “This is a real vote of confidence in British defence, and it shows we’ve realised how important a home-grown supply chain is to the country’s security and resilience. The whole supply chain will welcome it.
“The British Business Bank is there for SMEs, but keeping track of where investment is available is hard. Locally we’ve had months with no support for growth schemes since EU funding ended and small firms lose time and money waiting for the next investment cycle.
“Routing new money through the National Wealth Fund and the British Business Bank could open up real opportunities but only if smaller businesses can find it and access it. Too often investment like this ends up with the biggest names, while the small manufacturers who make up so much of the supply chain miss out.”
“We want to see a clear, simple route for SMEs to get involved and I know organisations such as Make UK Defence are pushing for this too.”
The new investment builds on the Defence Investment Plan which the Chancellor reaffirmed his commitment to in today’s announcement and on the SME Action Plan published in July, which pledged to raise defence spending with SMEs by 50 per cent by summer 2028.
Jennifer also welcomed major plans to ‘buy-British’ saying this was also a chance for the Chancellor to keep his promise to prioritise British companies for defence contracts and to make the UK more resilient.
“The Chancellor has said many times that British firms should come first when it comes to defence and now that he’s at the Treasury he decides where the money goes,” she added.
“This is about readiness and resilience. Given the state of the world, spending the money here in the UK and backing our own infrastructure makes the country better prepared.
“We’re seeing major defence companies move away from depending on a single overseas multinational towards a supply base of several UK SMEs that can scale. Rheinmetall’s new gun hall in Telford is evidence of this – bringing large-calibre barrel production back to the UK for the first time in 20 years. If the investment announced today is used to reshore defence supply as well as deliver new technologies firms like ours and other SMEs can help play a significant role in making the nation safer.
“That means backing our innovators and entrepreneurs too, so the support to grow is where they need it and not stuck waiting for the next funding round. This is key. It’s all very well announcing funding but we need to be able to access it.”
Transicon, based in Telford, designs and builds automation and control systems for manufacturers, including those in the defence sector, across the UK.