Aerospace firms across Warwickshire recently united at a skills event at the Ricoh Arena to launch a new forum designed to grow the industry in the region by winning more contracts on future aircraft programmes.

Headed by Coventry City Council, the Coventry & Warwickshire Aerospace Forum (CWAF) encourages more than 100 Warwickshire-based aerospace businesses to collaborate on a range of initiatives, including research and development, marketing and training.

Commenting on the launch Brian Graham, aerospace sector advisor at Coventry City Council, said: "The aerospace industry in Warwickshire rarely gets the recognition it deserves, despite generating more than £750 million turnover each year and employing more than 5,000 staff at blue chip brands, such as Rolls Royce and Meggitt as well as many innovative niche SMEs.

"The vast majority of our firms are based within the aerospace industry's supply chain, rather than producing one instantly recognisable part. However, the combined capabilities and advanced technologies available in the region alone could actually manufacture a component as significant as an aircraft engine."

CWAF has secured backing from the Midlands Aerospace Alliance and the regional development agency Advantage West Midlands, which invested £1.5 million enhancing regional supply chains last year through its Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme.

Pauline Pinney, aerospace cluster manager at Advantage West Midlands, said: "The Midlands represents around a fifth of the UK's aerospace industry by jobs and value, with Coventry & Warwickshire contributing a significant proportion towards this.

"We're firm supporters of any initiative that makes our region more competitive in industry and we hope that the launch of CWAF will encourage greater collaboration between our firms and match the many recent supply chain wins by West Midlands firms on significant programmes, such as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner."