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New Defence Growth Deal to boost skills, research and development and supply chains across South Yorkshire.
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Investment will support hundreds of well-paid jobs and make defence an engine for growth.
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Yorkshire and the Humber benefits from almost £1 billion a year in defence spending, supporting 3, 200 jobs.
South Yorkshire will benefit from a £50 million investment to create highly-skilled jobs and strengthen UK national security.
A new Defence Growth Deal, which Defence Minister Luke Pollard MP discussed with industry today at the University of Sheffield, will help defence companies and boost skills by expanding cutting-edge defence research in South Yorkshire.
The targeted funding is part of the South Yorkshire Defence Growth Deal and will catalyse growth across the region by boosting innovative R&D capacity and reinforcing the supply chains defence companies need to equip our Armed Forces.
The region is already a defence industry hotbed, with 3,200 jobs in Yorkshire and the Humber directly supported by almost £1 billion of defence spending each year, driving defence as an engine for growth.
Major facilities such as the MOD-owned Sheffield Forgemasters and BAE Systems’ advanced artillery factory complement defence SMEs, contributing to growth in the region and producing vital kit which keeps Britain safe now and in the future, such as howitzer gun barrels and steel for the Dreadnought-class next generation of submarines.
Luke Pollard MP met with Mayor of South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard at the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, which conducts crucial research to develop hi-tech innovative defence equipment of the future.
Luke Pollard MP, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, said
This £50 million investment will mean South Yorkshire’s superb defence companies can develop innovative new technology, helping strengthen our Armed Forces and keep Britain safe in this new era of threat.
With government, industry and academia – such as the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre – working hand in hand we are making sure this support is really targeted where it will have the biggest impact.
Through this Defence Growth Deal our government is backing British, and backing South Yorkshire. We’re harnessing the proud industrial base in this area to make defence an engine for growth, delivering new jobs and skills for local people.
Today’s discussion included establishing a South Yorkshire Defence Board, deepening collaboration between the government, South Yorkshire’s mayoral authority, industry and academia, working hand-in-hand on making the Growth Deal as effective as possible while attracting long-term public and private investment.
South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard said
In an ever more dangerous world, South Yorkshire has a significant role to play in the defence and security of the United Kingdom and our allies.
The £50 million Defence Growth Deal we have been awarded by the government doesn’t simply recognise the expertise and assets we have here today, it will help us to build the technologies and innovations of the future.
That Deal will mean we can continue making things, creating secure, well‑paid jobs, giving people across South Yorkshire the opportunity to stay near and go far. All while helping to keep the UK and our allies safe, secure and protected.
This £50 million boost directly responds to the Strategic Defence Review’s commitment to supporting the UK’s defence industry’s innovation, and will help make defence an engine for growth by powering investment and jobs across South Yorkshire.
The UK is delivering the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War, hitting 2.6% of GDP from 2027.