Director general recruited two years ago to overhaul UK industry body SBAC says it is becoming relevant again
When Dr Sally Howes became the first female director general of the Society of British Aerospace Companies in July 2003, many believed the organisation behind the Farnborough air show was more gentleman's club than effective commercial body and champion of the UK industry.
For the first year and a bit, Howes was an invisible woman, refusing to give interviews about her plans. Then, in September last year, she emerged from purdah to announce a shake-up of the SBAC on the back of a damning internal review. The report – compiled by a team of top executives from leading members – pulled no punches, slamming the SBAC for being overstaffed, delivering poor value for money to members and failing to "provide policy cohesion on national aerospace matters".
The scale of the criticism surprised some. After all, the SBAC had just held another successful Farnborough – the second biggest event in the air show calendar. All the country's leading aerospace names were SBAC members. The organisation's offices, a short walk from Whitehall and the Houses of Parliament, put it close to the centre of power. But the SBAC had grown complacent, failing to react to the fact that the aerospace industrial agenda was being driven increasingly by Brussels on one hand and English regions and devolved assemblies of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales on the other. Farnborough, too, was sucking up too much of the SBAC's resources without delivering sufficient commercial return.
Back on track
Seven months on, Howes believes the necessary steps have been taken to haul the SBAC back on course. Perhaps the most fundamental change has been that responsibility for Farnborough has been farmed out to a separate company, Farnborough International, owned by the SBAC and answerable to its council, staffed mostly by former SBAC employees, but commercially independent. "We owed it to our members to take an operational look at how we ran the show," she says. "How you motivate and manage a team within a trade organisation is very different to how you run a trade show. Now the structure we've got is endurable and solid. We've kept the old team, but it's a modern business."
The SBAC has also addressed its remoteness from the UK's regions by opening its doors to the local aerospace alliances that have emerged over the past decade to help their largely small and medium-sized enterprise members tap into regional funding.
So far, two – the south-east of England-based Farnborough Aerospace Consortium, and Northern Defence Industries – have joined, almost doubling SBAC membership to 800 companies. The SBAC is in talks with others, says Howes. It is also setting up an office in Scotland, where there are around 140 aerospace companies (Flight International, 29 March–4 April).
The organisation is now "firmly focused on the big picture", says Howes, who has a doctorate in geography and previously ran a consultancy specialising in the space sector.
The society has been recognised by the government as the lead industry body on the Aerospace Innovation and Growth Team, an initiative designed to improve the competitiveness of UK aerospace through the supply chain. "It's vital," she says, "for the industry to get focused on what's important – things like skills, regulatory requirements, international relationships and the relationship with the Ministry of Defence."
The society has "become more of an international player" too, she says, taking a key role in helping the new, merged European aerospace and defence alliance, the ASD, emerge from the former AECMA, and signing in November what it called a "milestone" agreement with the US Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) to allow easier electronic commerce between UK and American companies (Flight International, 23-29 November 2004). The UK's industrial and political ties with the USA mean- the relationship with the AIA is crucial. "Clearly our industries are heavily interlinked," says Howes. "We've always had good relations with the AIA but now we meet quarterly to discuss issues such as technology transfer."
Howes says the SBAC is keen that two current disputes between Europe and the USA – over subsidies for Airbus and Boeing, and a possible relaxing of the European arms ban to China – do not damage UK aerospace companies' prospects stateside. "Clearly this is incredibly important in terms of trade with China and our relationship with the USA," she says. "Europe needs a rigorous way of dealing with the embargo and we are keen that the UK government plays a leading role in shaping it. We don't want to see any further deterioration in the transatlantic relationship."
Subsidies
On the subsidies issue, even though Airbus has one of its biggest factories at Broughton in Wales, UK companies sell almost as much to Boeing as its European rival. "Many of our members supply both, so we want a fair outcome, that can be policed and everyone understands," she says.
As far as Farnborough's future is concerned, despite speculation about the show moving location and date after 2006, Howes says the Hampshire site will remain its home "beyond 2008", while the July timing will "hold for a number of Farnboroughs to come". The format will alter slightly from next year, with the traditional Monday kick-off "a shorter, more preparatory day", with a formal opening ceremony in the evening, and Friday opened to families of exhibitors before the public weekend.
And, despite the creation of an independent organising company, the role of Farnborough remains more than simply generating maximum profits for the SBAC. "There is a national pride issue," says Howes. "To have an air show with the reputation Farnborough has is a tremendous bonus for the reputation of UK industry."
MURDO MORRISON/LONDON
Source: Flight International
