ADS: Brexit uncertainty hampers UK aerospace growth

UK aerospace trade association ADS is seeing a slowdown in the country's supply chain activity and investment as a result of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. Chief executive Paul Everitt said during a briefing on 11 June that the UK industry is growing at a "significantly lower rate" than in other countries, and that demand at UK suppliers declined in 2017 and 2018 – a period during which, he notes, the sector experienced "significant growth elsewhere". He says that UK suppliers were not invited to tender for civil aerospace contracts during the months ahead of the UK's previous target of exiting the EU on 29 March. Existing contracts were not terminated, but UK suppliers did not win follow-up deals as a result of uncertainty around the country's future trading conditions, Everitt says.