BAE boss attacks SE and Executive for 'ignoring' engineering and defence

Published on Sunday 13 August 2006 00:42

VIC Emery, the boss of the Govan and Scotstoun shipyards, has accused Scottish Enterprise and the Executive of giving the defence and engineering industries the cold shoulder.

Emery, managing director of BAE Naval Ships, which employs more than 3,000 engineers and craftsmen in Glasgow, said defence and engineering should be included among the key industries which SE has pledged to support.

He said: "One of the big issues for us is that under the new list of key industries, engineering is not included. Engineering has lost a bit of visibility. The message to Jack Perry is that he needs to support us because we are one of the foundations of the economy round here."

SE's national priority industries were identified in June as life sciences, energy, financial services, electronic markets, food and drink, and tourism.

Shipbuilding and aerospace were classified as "regional industries" which are locally important but "unlikely to really drive economic growth for Scotland as a whole". Advanced engineering is classified as a niche where expertise can be transferred between sectors.

Emery, who is a board member of Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, said: "What we need is a recognition of the contribution we make to the economy in Scotland as well as the rest of the UK."

Industry groups last night backed Emery's stance.

Peter Hughes, the chief executive of Scottish Engineering, said: "Politicians want to support what they deem to be sexy industries, such as biotechnology. They can be very shortsighted.

"The danger is that more conventional industries do not get the recognition that they need."

But he added that the Executive had helped the industry behind the scenes with the new Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service.

A spokesman for the Society of British Aerospace Companies in Scotland said: "What the aerospace, defence and naval sector wishes to see from the Scottish Executive is twofold: recognition and support commensurate with its contribution to the Scottish economy, a contribution of 2.1bn sales in 2005 alone.

"While not being recognised for its full contribution, the sector does invest significant amounts in research and development, is highly knowledge-intensive and is a global industry at the leading edge of technological innovation."

A spokeswoman for Scottish Enterprise said: "Advanced engineering has been identified, along with enabling technologies, as a key area where Scotland has strengths that cut across a number of industries. For example, energy, construction and aerospace.

"We consulted over 300 organisations, industry bodies and companies as part of our industry review and the strong feedback was that there were real growth opportunities where there was convergence across sectors."