New research suggests that the Government’s defence ambitions have already resulted in a £100 million boost for Barrow.
Independent research by Oxford Economics found that BAE Systems spent £100m with local suppliers in the town.
Nationwide, the company contributed £13.7 billion to national GDP in 2024, accounting for one in every £200 of the country’s economic output.
The BAE Systems Contribution report comes soon after the UK’s Strategic Defence Review was announced at BAE Systems in Glasgow, where the Prime Minister outlined a plan to create “a defence dividend – that will be felt in the pockets of working people and the prosperity of the country, securing growth for generations to come”.
Janet Garner, future workforce director, BAE Systems Submarines, said: “We are strengthening economic prosperity across the UK by investing in a nationwide supply chain that delivers opportunities where they are needed most and building stronger more resilient local communities.”
The Government’s Industrial Strategy makes clear that defence is central to both national security and economic growth, aspiring to harness innovation and industrial power to make defence a new engine for growth.
This encompasses a broad range of positive economic outcomes, including jobs, exports and lasting productivity gains, and today’s report outlines some of the ways BAE Systems is already delivering by:
- supporting over 159,000 full-time equivalent jobs, including almost 50,000 in its UK business;
- driving economic activity through a UK-wide supply chain, with 5,800 UK suppliers and £5.8 billion spent, supporting jobs across the country; and
- creating opportunities where they are needed most, with over 40% of its UK workforce living in the most deprived fifth of local authority areas, and £1.3 billion spent with businesses in those areas.
In 2024, BAE Systems invested £230 million in education and training, including more than £150 million for 4,650 apprentices and almost £50 million for graduate training.
