Gordon Hails 'Encouraging Job Prospects' at BAE
BLACKPOOL MP HAILS ‘ENCOURAGING
JOB PROSPECTS’ ON BAE VISIT
Blackpool South MP Gordon Marsden
has said that business and job prospects across the Fylde at BAE “look encouraging”
after meeting managers, employees and union representatives on a visit to BAE’s
Warton site.
Mr Marsden toured the Aerospace assembly areas for
Eurofighter/Typhoon and the Hawk jet trainer – talking to staff working on
the latest orders and servicing for the Hawk for India programme. “The planes
here are getting the latest avionics packages as well as BAE offering the substantial
support and training elements that are clearly a key part of their strategy for expansion”,
Mr Marsden said afterwards.
“I talked with management
about their target strategies in this area for the Middle East, South Africa and
South Asia. BAE’s optimism about adding a thousand extra staff to work on
Typhoon and other projects at Warton and Salmesbury must mean encouraging job
prospects for more of my constituents getting jobs with BAE systems locally. This
positive outlook was reciprocated in my talks with union representatives, though
arrangements over technology transfer with the US and continued close support from
the Ministry of Defence are obviously crucial to BAE’s continuing prospects
in West Lancashire”.
Mr Marsden, who chairs the all-party
skills group of MPs at Westminster also talked to both sides at BAE about expanding
retraining and upskilling for older workers at Warton and Salmesbury. “We know
that a strategy to improve older worker’s skills - not just technical but
management and servicing – will be critical for local and national prosperity
in the next 10-15 years. BAE should be a key player, along with Lancaster
University and University of Central Lancashire, in giving existing and new
staff those opportunities”.
