Pennant is an integrated product support software and services company providing a suite of software solutions and technical services that support the design, development, operation, maintenance, and training of assets in defence, aerospace, rail, and other industries. The UK company is based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, with sites across the UK in Manchester and Hampshire and globally in the US, Canada and Australia. Pennant provides simulated training systems to Boeing to support with maintainer and groundcrew on the new fleet of 50 Apache AH-64E attack helicopters.

Q: What is your UK footprint?

A: Pennant has around 140 staff in total, with over half being in the UK. All staff are based outside London, with Pennant's headquarters, since inception in 1958, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in the Southwest of England. Other teams are based in Manchester, Northwest England with our smallest office in Fareham, Hampshire, Southeast England. All of Pennant’s design and manufacturing are carried out in the UK and our suppliers are UK based, wherever possible.

Q: How do you support UK growth?

A: Pennant has always been committed to the long-term prosperity of the UK’s engineering base and associated supply line. Throughout our 65-year history, Pennant has a proven record of utilising UK capabilities, including: employing apprentices local to our UK sites and supporting their education and training, including their university degrees; employing UK university students; using specialist sub-tier UK suppliers; purchasing raw materials from within the UK; exporting the majority of goods and services outside of the UK and supporting UK primes at home and abroad.

Q: How does your company/team exemplify excellence?

A: At Pennant we work to a set of core values, defining the way we act as individuals and as a business. Our core values are Innovation, Performance, Quality, Respect and Teamwork. We hold the ISO9001:2015 certification. Furthermore, we have a dedicated Innovation Team, which undertakes extensive research and development to ensure our products continue to fulfil our customers’ current and future requirements.

Q: How do you support the early careers pipeline?

A: Pennant’s apprenticeship scheme is a real asset to the company. We successfully run this scheme in conjunction with local colleges in the Gloucestershire area. Over the last three years Pennant has taken on seven apprentices.

Q: Can you outline investments made to support your work with Boeing?

A: We have invested more than £1m in acquiring new facilities and upgrading existing facilities to support our work with Boeing, as well as investing in targeted staff training to ensure we have an optimised skillset in the delivery team.

McLaughlin & Harvey is a privately-owned construction and civil engineering business. The team is partnering with Boeing on the main construction phase of Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail facility at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.

Q: What does Social Value mean to you? And how is it being supported in your contract with Boeing?

A: “Working with Boeing, McLaughlin & Harvey will mobilise a local construction workforce, which will see a blended team of more than 125 people employed on site at the project’s peak. Seven apprentice and trainee placements will also be created. Social value is a key driver in our decision-making process and is an integral part of our business strategy. Through our five social value pillars: successful futures, good employer, shared prosperity, communities’ matter and sustainably green, we will continue to support the local Scotland community in partnership with Boeing.”

Q: How do you partner with small-to-medium enterprises?

A: “We are currently using five Scotland-based suppliers on this Boeing project and have plans to engage many more as the project advances, creating a mix of graduate and trainee opportunities in specialist trades, including mechanical and electrical systems, joinery, metal work and engineering. SMEs create such a positive impact in our supply chain; supporting social value, generating employment opportunities and helping to safeguard the future of the construction industry with skilled and semi-skilled workers.”

Q: How do you support future talent?

A: “Our business is extremely diverse and we need a wide variety of skills to deliver the excellence we have built our reputation on. Our people are the future of McLaughlin & Harvey, and when possible, we like to grow our own, through our Trainee, Undergraduate Placement and Graduate Schemes. We also work with schools in Scotland on Foundation Apprentices. We are conscious of the need to create a pipeline of talent and engage with young people (especially young women) whilst they are still at school and making choices on future career routes, so we are an active partner of the STEM Ambassador Programme and attend and run several career fairs across the UK. For the Boeing Lossiemouth project, we have a target of seven opportunities across training, apprentices and work placements.”

ATEC Engineering Solutions has over 50 years’ experience in the design, manufacture and support of complex electronic and electromechanical equipment used in the global defence and industrial power generation industries. The Manchester-based company supports Boeing with maintenance on the Digital Electronic Control Unit (DECU) platform - a component in the Chinook helicopter.

Q: Why do you partner with Boeing?

A: As a company, Boeing aligns with our own values, including supporting the UK prosperity agenda.

Q: Why is it important to be considered a Small, Medium Enterprise or to champion regional diversity?

A: Being an SME, we have a direct responsibility to uplift and enrich our local communities. We will continue to support our local schools and people by offering apprenticeship programs, insight days, and by championing local charities through fundraising. It is through these opportunities, that we can positively impact our local environments.

Q: How are you investing in future skills?

A: ATEC has a commitment to take on two apprentices every year. We also partner with local schools for the REACH programme and host a number of work experience programmes.