A new PwC report that assesses the attractiveness of aerospace manufacturing investments globally has ranked the UK 7th out of 100 countries and as the top performing European nation.
The 2020 Aerospace Manufacturing Attractiveness report assesses a range of aspects such as cost, economy, infrastructure, labour, industry, and tax policy. Crucially it also analyses geopolitical risks such as Brexit, and it is this lingering economic uncertainty - alongside COVID-19 - that has been a factor in the UK’s drop from 4th position in 2019.
The top three spots this year are held by the US, Singapore (3rd - 2019) and Canada (2nd - 2019) with South Korea, Japan and Australia leapfrogging the UK to take 4th to 6th positions respectively. Germany, the Netherlands and Hong Kong complete the top 10 nations.
According to the analysis, the biggest shifts for the UK were in the cost category (from 4 to 20) and the industry category (from 8 to 17). This is in part due to Brexit trade challenges that continue to impact the UK A&D industry, particularly in relation to supply chains, EU funded research and development investment, access to skilled workers and strategic business partnerships with EU-based companies.
The pandemic also exacerbated a rash of challenges earlier this year, including cash flow and liquidity, resulting in proactive government support, supply chain disruptions and, naturally, unprecedented revenue shortfalls. The report notes that while the return of air travel demand could take as long as three to five years, defence infrastructure investment has been more resilient during this period.