DEPARTMENT of Economic Development Member with responsibility for manufacturing, Laurence Skelly MHK, expressed his encouragement at the state of the Isle of Man’s aerospace sector following the latest Isle of Man Aerospace Cluster (IOMAC) Forum.
 
The quarterly Forum, held in conjunction with the North West Aerospace Alliance, presents an opportunity for the 18 members of IOMAC to hear the latest news on industry trends and to discuss potential opportunities and challenges.
 
The IOMAC is progressing a formal 5 year strategy, created in 2011, to improve cluster collaboration, joint sourcing, business excellence and marketing to remove the barriers to growth and create sustainability and skilled jobs.
 
As well as looking at the future opportunities open to IOMAC members, the Forum also provided an opportunity to review 2011 which proved to be another successful year despite challenging economic conditions globally.
 
Last year the IOMAC forums attracted speakers from key industry decision makers including Airbus and NASA and facilitated the launch of Journey to Process Excellence (JTPE) the Cluster’s own business improvement initiative which is based on Rolls-Royce’s world class model. The IOMAC is gaining worldwide recognition for the Isle of Man’s aerospace industry and is proving to be a valuable asset for all of its members.
 
Attending his first Forum, Laurence Skelly MHK commented:
 
‘I am really encouraged by the positive and collaborative approach that the aerospace sector is taking via the Cluster model. Although we have a very healthy sector already with over 800 employees represented by IOMAC members, the projections for growth are excellent with a realistic view that over 100 new jobs will be created by 2015.
 
‘This, and the fact that average salaries for those in skilled manufacturing are over ?30,000 per year, means that we expect significant growth in those looking to enter engineering and particularly the aerospace manufacturing sector.’
 
Mr Skelly went on to say:
 
‘This is evidenced by our Awareness of Careers in Engineering programme, which has been running successfully for 4 years in our schools, and the subsequent massive oversubscription for our existing apprenticeship scheme places. This highlights the need to review the Island’s current training provision in this area.’
 
-ENDS-