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COLLABORATING FOR SUCCESS
JOINT AEROSPACE CLUSTER SUMMIT LAYS
FOUNDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE
Business Isle of Man (an executive agency of the Department for Enterprise) and the Isle of Man
Aerospace Cluster (IOMAC) has recently hosted guests from England, Ireland and Wales for the first Joint
Aerospace Cluster Summit at the recently refurbished Comis Hotel.
The event attracted over 80 delegates from
aerospace clusters around the Irish Sea
including the IOMAC, IOM Aircraft Registry,
Emerald Aero Group, Shannon International
Aviation Services Centre (IASC), Causeway
Aero Group, Wales Aerospace Forum, and the
North West Aerospace Alliance (NWAA).
The event was opened by the Minister for
Enterprise, Laurence Skelly, with the Chief
Minister, Howard Quayle, Tim Crookall
MLC, and Minister Graham Cregeen also in
attendance as well as representatives from
Business Isle of Man, including Chair Stephen
Bradley MBE.
Adrian Moore, Chair of the IOMAC and Head of
Business Isle of Man commented: ‘The event
was a great success and I am proud of the
work that Business Isle of Man and the IOMAC
have done to highlight our capabilities as both
event organisers and serious players in the
Aerospace industry. The speakers, venue,
networking, cluster workshops, tours and all
the little touches made our visitors’ experience
a truly impressive demonstration of how
professional the Isle of Man really is.
‘The feedback received from visitors has been
hugely complimentary, helping to demonstrate
that the Isle of Man has strength, depth and
diversity within our Engineering & Manufacturing
sector. There was much discussion and praise
regarding the quality of our training facilities
and the way the sector works with Government
to deliver exemplary vocational training, as
demonstrated by the multi million pound
investment in the Advanced Manufacturing
Training Centre. This event may have laid the
foundation for an Irish Sea ‘Super’ Cluster!’
The theme of the Summit was ‘Collaboration’,
and was structured to allow maximum
collaboration between individuals, companies
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and clusters through networking and
workshops, designed to highlight how
companies and clusters across the sector can
better work together.
Guests were also given an opportunity to
join site tours around the AMTC, and IOMAC
members’ facilities including Swagelok, Manx
Precision Optics, and West Atlantic.
Particular praise was given to Swagelok for
their manufacturing and businesses processes
as well as the condition of the factory. Dr David
Bailey, Chairman of the NWAA, commented: ‘In
my role within one of the largest regional trade
associations I have been very fortunate to have
visited manufacturing sites all over the world. I
can genuinely say that Swagelok’s is one of the
most impressive that I’ve seen. The workplace
organisation, preventative maintenance, team
boards, improvement plans, communications,
and employee engagement were all excellent.’
Members of the IOMAC are continually
evaluating ways to improve and respond to
change. Outside of the formal sessions there
was much discussion between the Clusters
with regard to STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering & Maths) skills and development.
Ideas were shared on how to better-promote
STEM in schools, and at other large public
events on the Island. This has sparked
collaboration between the Clusters going
forward, which was the main objective for the
summit. There was much
discussion and praise
regarding the quality of our
training facilities.