April

The release of the UK Government’s Integrated Review (IR), Defence Command Paper (DCP) and Defence and Security Industrial Strategy (DSIS) in the previous month, highlighted the important contribution that Leonardo is making to the UK’s prosperity with the company named as one of leading international companies who continue to invest in the UK. 

The documents also confirmed the UK Government’s intention to consolidate its rotary aircraft initially through procuring a new Medium Helicopter due to replace the Puma by the middle of the decade. To coincide with the announcement, we formally launched our campaign to position our AW149 as the ideal solution to the UK’s New Medium Helicopter requirement and explained how, in collaboration with UK Government, this and other opportunities could lead to greater export success, as well as secure advanced technology jobs for future generations at our Yeovil site.

The publication of the IR, DCP and DSIS also reaffirmed the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) commitments to a number of capabilities in which we are already playing a leading role. These included the Strategic Partnering Agreement on Rotary Wing future requirements, the Tempest Future Combat Air System and the Royal Air Force Typhoon Radar 2 (ECRS Mk2), along with updates and in-service support for Wildcat, Merlin and Apache helicopters. 

Also in April, we celebrated the achievements of the UK’s future engineering talent at the Engineering Development Trust’s (EDT) Industrial Cadet Gold Graduation, which we were proud to sponsor and support as partners. Throughout the year, Leonardo STEM ambassadors had helped mentor teams from schools based in the communities surrounding our UK sites, many of whom were on-hand to celebrate with the schools. The event also saw Leonardo Hardware Technician and STEM Ambassador, Sophie Caffrey, giving a keynote speech at the graduation ceremony.

As we cautiously freed ourselves from the UK government’s “Stay at Home” order, and movement restrictions began to loosen, we welcomed a return to outdoor fundraising activities for the first time in 2021 with the Kiltwalk and the Kiltwalk Munro Challenge. Colleagues from our Edinburgh site racked up 3,331,999 steps throughout the month, raising over £4,300 for the Harmeny Education Trust (boosted to over £6,500 by the Sir Tom Hunter Foundation).