Kenard Engineering Group has been selected for Sharing in Growth (SiG), the government-backed supply chain competitiveness programme to help take advantage of aerospace growth opportunities.
The initial focus of the four-year programme will be to drive operational excellence, business development, people development and management control and reporting.
Kenard Group managing director, Keith Ellis, said: “We see this as a fantastic opportunity to invest in our ability to deliver globally cost competitive performance, with thought leadership on the latest best practice and applications in manufacturing at its core. We expect SiG to help unlock the full potential of our business, to the benefit of all our stakeholders and industry.”
The training and development programme, funded by the Regional Growth Fund, will be delivered by SiG’s own 120-strong team of coaches as well as a bank of experts including The University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing, Deloitte, Industry Forum and the National Physical Laboratory.
Kernard Group, which has manufacturing divisions in Dartford and Tewkesbury, said that engaging with SiG through an intense diagnostic phase helped its management team to develop a vision and strategy for the future.
Sharing in Growth CEO, Andy Page, said: “We are already working with 55 companies, so they can fulfil their world-class manufacturing and business ambitions. With our support, the first 43 companies on the programme have secured around £2 billion in contracts to date – almost 20% of which is for direct export. Consequently, we are well on target to hit our ultimate objective of safeguarding 10,000 UK jobs by 2022.”
SiG is currently recruiting companies with similar growth ambitions to Kenard to fill the remaining funded places.
Established in 2013, the SiG programme is endorsed by Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, Bombardier, GE, GKN, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, MBDA, Rolls-Royce, Safran and Thales.