On Friday I visited Abbey Group, a small business in Kirkby that has teamed up with Saab to produce key parts of their Barracuda Mobile Camouflage System (MCS) that will be used on the British Army’s Ajax fighting vehicles.

The partnership combines Saab’s cutting edge technology with Abbey Group’s local expertise in engineering, using highly-skilled staff to tool and sew vital MCS components. The partnership is fantastic for local employment, with plans already in place for an expansion that will employ and train local people. It was good to meet staff on the shop floor and hear about how they work and their experience working for Abbey Group, a key local employer in their field.

Earlier this week I also visited Northern Ireland as part of the Shadow Defence team where I met with various defence manufacturers ahead of the next General Election. These included Spirit Aerosystems, formerly Bombardier Aerostructures, who manufacture aircraft wings, Thales who produce missiles that the UK donates to the defence of Ukraine and shipbuilders Harland & Wolff, who are part of a consortium building the next generation of Fleet Solid Support ships for the Royal Navy. I also attended a round table of small businesses involved in a range of areas of defence manufacturing.